A hundred tears of scarlet
by TemporaryObsessed
Summary: 36 fresh Genin. Twelve teams. Four passed their sensei's test. Three sensei's were happy, one was not. What will become of these unwanted students? You can't kill them and claim that it was an unfortunate misunderstanding, now can you? Instead it would be better to just throw them in the mix and hope that they accidentally kill themselves. Warning: M for torture and some gore
1. Introductions and traps

"Please?!"

Mud-colored eyes looked at him expectantly and the blond sighed. "I told you I am not allowed to teach you. Jiji says that it's too dangerous."

The girl groaned but her eyes lit up again, this time closer to a yellow shade and it made the blond nervous. "How about you show me? I can't promise that I won't attempt to learn it but I want to at least see it."

Naruto rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand "Sure, but somewhere where others can't see us."

Chi bounded up and down on her feet as she followed him to the Hokage Monument. Villagers stared at them and whispered amongst each other, but the two paid them no heed. Once they were seated on top of the Yondaime's head, she looked around.

"Such a shame that the paint is gone already."

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei made me scrub it all off on my own'ttebayo." Naruto sighed again.

Chi made a face "Sounds tough."

"Yeah well, he treated me to ramen afterwards so I don't mind."

"You're too easy Naruto-kun..." She shook her head before looking up with grin "Will you show me now?"

"Yeah, yeah, impatient woman..."

Half and hour and one hundred clones later found Chi nodding and reviewing her notes and her blond friend frantically waving his arms.  
"Oi Chi! I told you that it's dangerous!"

"I'll be fine, unlike you I am not a brash, knucklehead idiot." Chi retorted without taking her eyes off the paper.

Naruto squinted "You're the most Bipolar ninja-girl in our class. Heck, the entire school knows you for being bipolar! Believe it!"

Chi's eyebrow twitched but she remained silent. The two remained on the monument, Chi reviewing her notes and occasionally asking Naruto questions while Naruto stared at the sunset. That is until his stomach started rumbling and he dragged his friend off to treat him to ramen. Hey, she spend all day making his head hurt with difficult questions, he deserved it.

"So we got a tracking/scouting team, an interrogation/infiltration team, some regular assault teams, spying teams, a new generation of Eternal Chuunins..." His eyes scanned the list again "One heavy assault team, specially designed to destroy." He pushed away any protesting feeling of guilt and looked at the second to last team. "And one team with the sole purpose to get killed..."

Of course that wasn't the real reason but it felt like that to Iruka. This team, Team 11, consisted of three girls with only one from a shinobi background. Not that there was much left of it but it was way more than her civilian teammates. They all graduated with barely average grades and to make matters worse, they had yet to exchange a friendly word with each other. Not that Team 7 was any better in that department.

To the teacher it felt like he was sending them to their dooms.

The teacher rubbed his eyes and pushed his chair back. All the troubles with Naruto combined with his task to make teams were taking a toll on him. He liked the boy, he really did but he exhausting to deal with at times. The recent issue with Mizuki made him change in a tiny way but it was not nearly enough for Iruka to lead a peaceful life. With a tired grunt he forced himself to stand up and get to bed to catch some sleep. He would need it if he wanted to survive the next day.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura-" He paused to let the horde of fangirls scream and flail for a bit before sending a kunai towards the wall at the other end, effectively silencing them. His colleague glanced at him in surprise but Iruka ignored it. He overslept and had yet to have his daily fix of caffeine so he could not be bothered with... anything, really.

"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team 8: Inazuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai-" Iruka continued on automatic pilot until his fellow teacher nudged him. Some kids were snickering and pointing but stopped when another kunai embedded himself in a desk in front of them. Iruka send a well practiced glare their way and looked down at his list. He was finished. Thank Goodness.

He scanned the list again, mainly the teachers. It would be quite the blunder if he had assigned them to the wrong person. _Hmm let's see... Kakashi, Kurenai, Tobio, Anko, Asuma, E-_ His posture went rigid and suddenly the class was choking on his killer intent. It was easy to forget but Iruka was by no means a weak ninja. His daily interactions with various shinobi of all kind and _especially Anko_ shaped him into a cunning shinobi. It should have been no surprise that his killer intent felt like a thick blanket of darkness.

"Oi Iruka!" His fellow teacher hissed at him. Iruka growled and crumpled the paper in his hand.

"Team 11!" He barked and was only a bit guilty when all three Genin went ramrod straight in their seats. In a calmer tone (not that many noticed) he continued "Your sensei will NOT be Mitarashi Anko, it will be Morino Ibiki."

His colleague let out a near unnoticeable sigh of relief. He had contemplated to keep the three students here under the guise of a failed test just so that they could escape the maniac that was Anko.

The Killer Intent faded and the Genin were able to breathe again. Iruke send them an apologetic smile.

"You will have one hour for lunch, afterwards you will gather here again and wait for your sensei to come and pick you up. Dismissed." He send them off and collapsed as dignified as possible in his chair. The students barged out of the door.

"Jeez Iruka, what's gotten into you?" The other teacher couldn't help but be amused albeit slightly worried as well.

"A rough night." After he had finished the teams, he had gone to bed only to realize that he had about two hours left. Still, he decided that two hours was better than none at all and drifted off, only to be rudely awakened by a bunch of crows near his window. He took one look at his still ringing alarm bell and everything just went downhill from there on.

The smell of fresh, extra bitter coffee woke him from his musings and he shot a grateful look at the teacher.

"Say, how long do you think Team 7 is going to wait?" The other man sat on a table in front of him with his own cup of dark goodness, looking devious.

Iruka cracked a smile "Three hours, at least."

"You did it, didn't you?" Naruto stated as he stood in front of the tree. The girl looked worn and rather sleepy, her yellow haori wasn't ironed and she had neglected to brush and tie her wild, brown hair. There were bags under her eyes and she sat slumped against the trunk with her eyes closed but with a content smile on her lips.

"I told you not to do it, dattebayo!"

"Relax, I am still alive. Besides, I managed to create around fifty clones so I'd say that this jutsu won't kill me."

Though he looked impressed Naruto still frowned.

"Don't look like that. This will only help me train better and faster. Besides it's a good exercise to improve my stamina and to change my status as The Legendary Bipolar." She opened one eye to look at the orange ninja after it became too silent for too long, only to find him looking confused.

"What?"

Naruto looked at her "How will this help you train better?"

"You're kidding me."

"Eh?"

"You moron. You told me that you made about three hundred clones to fight Mizuki-sens- Ahem, Mizuki. Did you not feel anything afterwards?"

Naruto thought for a while and then broke out in a grin "I remember feeling awesome-ttebayo!"

"And I remember how stupid you can be."

Chi reached in her pocket and whacked his forehead with her yo-yo. Ignoring his whining she got up and pushed him to a bench near the targets for practice. She could remember throwing a couple of shurikens towards this bench, almost killing a couple of girls who couldn't stop fawning over Sasuke. It wasn't on purpose, of course it wasn't. But they never slacked of again and she could swear that she saw the Uchiha glance at her with something other that the famed glare. It was not near emotional enough to be called a smile but it was an improvement to her eyes.

"Right. Since theory won't work on you, make a clone."

Ten Naruto's appeared.

"Or ten, whatever makes you feel right..." _He needs to learn to control his chakra._

"Okay so I made them. Now what?" _And he needs to train his patience._

"Right, hang on sec." Ten Chi's poofed in existence. She sighed, she was still tired.

"Form pairs and spread out. You already know your instructions." The replica's nodded and each grabbed one Naruto and raced of in a random direction. The original Chi went to sit on the bench and Naruto followed her looking confused. Chi kept herself busy by carving doodles in the bench and Naruto fidgeted in his seat. He didn't know what to do and became more and more restless as time went by. He was about to explode and demand an answer or something from her when a thought suddenly popped in his brain.

"Oi why did you do that?!" He grabbed her head and lifted her off the bench. Then another image appeared and he let her go. Amazed and thoroughly confused he sat through ten different ways in which he got killed or hit by Chi.

"Get it? Whatever your clone does, you will know. The memories of the clone get transferred to you when the clone gets taken out."

"That's... pretty awesome-ttebayo!" Naruto's face went from blank to a wide smile. Chi smiled and held out her fist.

"But how will this help me train faster?"

The fist hit his head.

"OW! Hey!"

Chi glared daggers at the boy who lived after being punched through a target. She stalked over and pulled him out again, further demolishing the target. She dragged him over to the bench and threw him down, planting a foot on his shoulder to prevent him from slumping.

"Listen up dumbass, whatever your clones learn, you learn. So if you were to make one clone and you both train, you would learn twice as fast. If you made a hundred clones and you would all train then you would learn a hundred times as fast... Or something."

Naruto, ever the quick recoverer, frowned and brightened up again. "Haha so I could easily surpass that Sasuke-teme?!" The foot on his shoulder pressed harder.

"Naruto. Look at me." The cerulean eyes met the muddy ones. Her voice was steady and calm and Naruto knew that this was the reason many believed Chi could become an excellent teacher.

"Once we put the headband on, we are no longer enemies. Rivals, but no enemies. Sasuke is an arrogant bastard, yes. But you'll see, he won't get far with that attitude. You should not focus on trying to defeat him with every step, instead you should try to improve more than he does. You understand the difference?"

Naruto rubbed his head as Chi released him. "Maa, I get that we're supposed to be teammates and everything, but I want to defeat him so that Sakura-chan finally sees that he's no good."

Chi rolled her eyes "Stupid fangirl... I got two of 'em in my team. They are going to be the death of me."

Naruto was about to reply when his stomach rumbled.

"LET'S GET SOME RAMEN!"

The atmosphere was tense, every Genin waiting for their sensei. Sure enough, Jonins walked into the room, one by one and called a team out. Naruto was drumming on his table and occasionally glanced at his new team. Sasuke was brooding and Sakura was trying to get his attention, to no avail. He sighed, ever since lunch ended he had been stuck on his seat. His feet were restless and in the end he had pulled out some papers and ink and started writing. It caused many to stare at him and few to try and dispel a genjutsu but he ignored them like he was told to do.

It was an exercise Chi told him about. She once saved him from getting caught after a prank and blackmailed him into reading a thick book from her clan's library. When it turned out that he, for the live of him, had no patience to sit down and read, she pushed a huge scroll and a brush into his hands. She then showed him a large board with various drawings on it.

" _Copy these. Try to send as much energy as possible in the brush so that you have less in your legs."_

It turned out to be quite helpful. The thick, black ink seemed to flow straight out of his hands. Chi tried explaining that it was his chakra that mixed with the ink but Naruto failed to understand it. All he understood was that he had found a new hobby. Of course, the giant scroll was a better way to keep him busy since it required him to walk around and stretch in order to draw, but a small paper was more difficult. Naruto got the hang of it pretty easily and bugged Chi for more and more drawings until she caved and just gave him a key to the library.

A light tap on his head made him look up.

"We're going too."

Shikamaru yawned as he walked past him and Chouji waved, Ino just stuck out her tongue. Naruto grinned and waved back. There was a tall Jonin standing in the door's entrance. He looked old but Naruto guessed that it was because of his beard. The man was playing with a cigarette in his hands but a warning on the blackboard from Iruka kept him from actually lighting it. Naruto thought that Iruka had a sixth sense.

"Alright, good luck!"

Shikamaru grumbled a reply and left with his team minus his sensei in tow. Naruto looked around, just his team and Chi's team were left behind.

 _Oh well, I guess our sensei's are busy with awesome missions._

"They're just late, ya know." Chi's voice interrupted his daydream and he jumped up.

"Why must you always destroy my dreams like that?!" He shouted and Chi offered him a apologetic smile.

Sasuke sighed and of course Sakura looked up from her place. She was huddled together with the rest of Team 11 on the table right in front of the last Uchiha. Their legs were carfully adjusted to look longer and their hair got an occasional brush with their fingers. Sakura leaned forward with a worried expression.

"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?"

She got ignored and Chi broke out in a grin "He's probably dreading the fact that his teammate is only focused on dates she will never get."

Her response earned her an accusing shout from Naruto ("Don't say such things to Sakura-chan!") and a flaming blush on the pink haired girl before she twirled to face the taller girl.

"Stupid Chi! And Naruto-baka, you're annoying!"

Chi grin turned feral and she leaned closer "Oh? And what are you going to do about it?"

Sakura's eyes were blazing "Shut up! You know I scored much higher than you in the exams, you stupid Bipolar! You wouldn't last two seconds in any strategic battle!"

"At least people realize I am a kunoichi when they see me." Chi shot back, still smirking and Sakura went still. It was a painful truth. The differences between the clan children and civilians were big. Differences like their outfits for example: Chi wore a short haori and mesh armor while Sakura wore a silky dress. Their mentalities were different as well. While most shinobi children could relatively easily talk about death and murder, the civilians were more cautious and almost scared of the thought.

The muddy eyes flared yellow and held the green ones for a long time. Then Chi sighed and shook her head "Be a fangirl all you want, but you should know that there is no place for that on the battlefield. Your precious Sasuke-kun won't be there to save you and wipe your tears, you know?"

"Oi, Sasuke-kun is gentleman!"

"Yeah! Stupid Chi. Why don't you just take the dead last and leave already!"

Team 11 other members, consisting of Akamura Ryuya and Lee Shinji, all got up and stood behind Sakura. Naruto sighed, he was always telling Chi to lay down and just let them be: he would take down Sasuke and then they would change. Granted, it would take a while, but he could do it! But Chi was just too easily frustrated and valued the Shinobi code too much. If he was honest, he could understand. His first serious reactions after hearing who his team was, were worries about how Sakura would cope with the missions. He stepped in between the girls.

"Maa, calm down. Just because Iruka-sensei had to leave doesn't mean we can go and fight like this'ttebayo. Besides, Chi is just worried for your safety, in her own way."

He winced when he felt a sharp jab to his ribs but smiled nonetheless. The two behind Sakura gritted their teeth and sat down again muttering about how stupid they were and how he was still inferior to Sasuke. Much to his shock however, he noticed tears brimming on the corner of Sakura's eyes. Behind him Chi sighed and pushed him away. He held his breath as the lean girl approached the fragile looking one.

"Oi, I meant what I said. Right now you have to train twice as hard to catch up with your team. They will only grow and you will be left behind like a deadweigth. And since we're ninjas, you'll soon end up as literal deadweigth. So start working."

Naruto let his breath out, that went better than he expected. He had half anticipated on a one sided beating that would end with Sakura in the hospital. She may be smart but Chi was muscular and just plain better at fistfights.

If she had a good day of course, she couldn't be a Legendary Bipolar if she was always just as good. The Genin fell into a silence as Chi went to sit behind her desk again. Sakura got surrounded by Ryuya and Shinji in a corner and after some not so quiet insults thrown at Naruto and Chi they started speaking in a hushed tone.

Their subject was not hard to guess as every now and then one would send a passionate glance at Sasuke. The latter was still sitting with his fingers intertwined and glaring at nothing.

Naruto rolled his eyes, feeling too tired to challenge him and slumped in his seat.

His absurd stamina must have reached his limit, because not too soon the five Genin could hear soft snores coming from the orange ninja.

Hours later, the door slammed open, making all Genin jump out of their skin. Naruto woke with a start, hands immediately on clenched and waving around. The man who entered spared him a strange look before barking an order.

"TEAM 11. OUTSIDE NOW."

His voice echoed in the classroom and the students sat up straighter out of fear. Shinji looked about ready to cry as she took in the scars on the man's face. Ryuya, being the smallest, looked extremely uncomfortable and intimidated by his huge posture. Chi carefully approached him and send Naruto a look that screamed for help. This man was going to kill them for sure. Naruto, of course, being Naruto didn't understand the look and instead turned to the scary teacher.

"Oi, when is our teacher coming?"

The giant stopped and slowly turned around. He stared deep into the blue eyes. Recognition followed by sadness flashed into the older man's eyes but it was so short that it might as well been imagination. Naruto paid it no attention and instead narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Are you Hatake's brats?"

"Eh, yes." Sakura answered timidly. The man's glare intensified and then even Sasuke lost his arrogant posture.

Much to their surprise however, the man started laughing and pushed his new students out of the door.

"You brats better get used to this!"

His laughter could be heard from the hall and send shivers down Sakura's spine.

"Was that man Ibiki-sensei?"

She felt bad for the trio of girls.

"Alright you brats. To you I am Ibiki-sensei. To me you are a bunch of snot nosed brats. To others I am the head of Torture and Interrogation." Ibiki smirked as he saw the girls shift. He had chased them to a rundown alley where he started the introductions. Not that they would matter soon.

"I don't need your names until you pass the test-"

"T-test?!" The smallest shrieked. Ibiki glared at her until she cowered and hid behind her taller teammate.

Ibiki held his glare until the short one managed to squeak out an apology. His eyes flitted over the tall one. Her eyes were turning a disturbing shade of yellow and he decided to continue his monologue.

"You may have passed the Academy test, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. You will need to pass my test or else you'll be back in the classroom by the end of the week." He paused to look at the reactions.

They all looked nervous to some degree. He noted that the yellow started to dull and gave himself a mental pat on his shoulder. He didn't know much about her clan but he knew that yellow eyes meant danger.

"Meet me at midnight in front of the Forest of Death. If you don't know where it is, consider yourself sacked. If you are late, consider yourself sacked. If one of you is missing, you are all back to the Academy. If you fail the test it means that you are either dead or dying. Understood?" He received three pale faced nods and had to suppress a wince. These brats would never be the same again after tonight, dead or alive.

"I will meet you there and give you your instructions. Be sure to be in full gear and keep an eye out for the wild animals. Oh, and watch out for a missing nin. We dropped him in the forest to warm him up a bit, he might be a bit cranky." He send them the scariest smile he could muster and poofed away.

He reappeared on a nearby rooftop and looked down on the trio that looked like they had a nervous breakdown. Or at least two of them had. The one in the haori was in deep thought and eventually slapped the other two on the head. He watched as she dragged them out of the alley and finally let out a sigh. _Orders are orders, right?_

 _In the end Team 7 had to wait for a total of five hours. As it was, their sensei had come at his usual time of three hours late but found that he could not enter. All because there was a raging Ibiki stomping through the corridors, muttering about a certain snake and wishing her to the deepest pit of Hell. Of course, this meant that Kakashi had to wait. After all, how could he let himself arrive at the same time as someone else? He couldn't, because Kakashi Hatake was a man of principle and discipline. He had to be at least one and a half hours later than anyone else. So, he turned around and decided to pay another visit to his old friends._

 _When he returned, he not only got hit with a duster, narrowly avoided a flying can of paint, stepped in puddle of super glue, and almost got impaled by a barrage of pencils, he also had to wake his new students up. Kakashi decided that it was worth his reputation._


	2. A game at midnight

A cold breeze send chills down the spines of Ryuya. The shortest member of Team 11 was standing in front of the Nara district. She was alone and had the constant sensation of being followed. From the moment she left her house she could almost feel two eyes bore holes in her back. It was eleven o'clock and she hoped that her teammates would hurry and come already. According to the map they took from the library, Chi's house was the closest to the location.

Much to Ryuya's confusion though, Chi told them to gather near the Nara compound as it was right in front of her district. When Shinji demanded an explanation, she simply told them that to get to her house they would have to walk through the entire Nara Forest in the darkness. Not to mention that this clan specialized in using and manipulating shadows. Both girls quickly caved and thus the Nara district became their first meeting point. Gathering near a shinobi clan at night sounded like potential suicide, they knew it. Yet Ryuya was pretty sure that the laid back clan members couldn't be bothered by her presence, especially since they would be smart enough to recognize her as a threat equal to a mouse.

Her fingers clenched around her headband around her neck. She had wanted to become a kunoichi to become an example to her younger siblings and cousins. She was the first from the family consisting of bakers and pastry chefs. Every day she would bring cakes and fresh loafs to school, making the rest of the class jealous. Of course she knew that it wasn't healthy and her teachers had more than often chided her to bring healthier food. She would have done that, if she had the ability to become fat that is. She had even vowed that she would stop eating them if she gained any weight. After all, how could she compete for Sasuke-kun's attention if she was fat and with a face filled with pimples?

Footsteps neared her and she looked up immediately. Shinji's scarf was flying behind her as she ran. She too had a backpack, Ryuya noted.

"Is she still not here?!" Shinji panted and leaned on her knees. Ryuya winced, her stamina was no better.

"I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her, or anyone, yet."

Shinji's rosy cheeks puffed up as she started a rant on how much she hated lateness and on how much Chi annoyed her. Ryuya smiled at her antics and waited until she calmed down.

"I am sure she will be here soon. She is probably packing a lot more stuff and weapons. She is from a clan after all."

The brunette nodded, her lips tight. Ryuya, having dull navy hair herself, always wondered at the constant shine and brightness of her friend's hair, even in the dark.

"My father told me to train as much as I can."

Ryuya looked up "Hmm?"

Shinji looked down, wringing her scarf "Since Chi is the only one with a shinobi background, we have to work even harder to catch up. So he told me to work hard."

Both girls fell silent as they mulled over this fact. They were so immersed that they didn't notice their teammate approaching them from around the corner.

Chi was fond of traditional clothing and especially _mustard_ _yellow_ traditional clothing. But unlike her orange clad friend, she did have the sense to wear dark clothes in the night. It was one of the reasons that her teammates didn't see her, at least she hoped so.

When she got so close that it started to become embarrassing, she coughed. Both girls jumped up with, to their credit, a kunai ready in their hands.

"Well at least you are prepared." She remarked dryly.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Shinji didn't seem to care for the sleep of the neighborhood. Ryuya looked around cautiously and tugged her scarf warningly.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going already. I have a good reason." Chi waved her hand and walked away, Shinji hot on her heels and Ryuya mentally apologizing to the sleeping people.

The three Genin left, their argument still resounding when they had dissapeared around the corner.

From the shadows near the compound's forest, a man emerged. Slouched posture, goatee and long black hair: a typical appearance.

Nara Shikaku rubbed his head and yawned. "It seems that my speech from earlier didn't work... Troublesome girls..."

He turned around and walked in the compound, ready to resume sleeping. With a bit of luck, next time the girls would realize that:

Shadows aren't really strong at night since there is no light.

Nara's are inherently too lazy to move at day so what made them think they would move at night?

The clan is known for keeping deers. _Only_ deers.

NARA'S. Seriously, moving out at night to harass some little girls is too troublesome.

'Training ground 44'

Aka 'The forest of death'. Chi sighed and braided her hair again. It was nearing midnight and they were all here waiting at the entrance for their sensei to come. She really just wanted to get in her bed and sleep. According to her classmates, they were the only ones to have a test at night. According to their respective sensei's, their sensei was quite extreme and they needed a lot of good fortune to survive. Needless to say, Team 11 was not feeling confident.

The fact that every now and then, disturbing noises and creaks resounded from somewhere in the forest, did not help. Not at all.

Ryuya had long forgotten any hard feelings between her and Chi and clung to the latter's arm with all the strength she could muster. Chi was fairly sure that any circulation had already stopped and the numb feeling in her arm was the sensation of the limp dying. She didn't dare to speak up though, in the silence every word sounded like it was shouted at the top of the her lungs. To someone who is used to working in silence it felt horrible. Shinji was forcing her senses in overdrive and the only thing she realized was the smell of iron. She knew that it meant blood but it seemed to come from their spot. She tried to ignore it, but it was making her already squirming stomach sick.

"Ehh, guys?" The other two looked up at her whisper. It was Chi who found the courage to speak first.

"What?"

Shinji found that her breath smelled an awful lot like blood. She focused more.

 _I thought her eyes were mud-colored, why do they seem so red?_

"It smells like blood."

These words send Ryuya in a fit of prayers and sobs against Chi's shoulder and Chi looking confused. The brunette send more chakra to her eyes and nose. The smell came from her teammate.

"That must be your imagination."

Now she was absolutely sure that it was Chi. Shinji's mind went in overdrive

 _Did she kill someone? Her clothes are bordeaux, any stains of blood wouldn't show. But perhaps she changed and that's why she was so late._

 _Did she kill that missing nin? No, she is just a Genin._

 _Or is she? She was always a curious case._

 _What if she killed Naruto-baka? No, she wouldn't. They are friends an-_

"Are you okay?" Ryuya's voice sounded unnatural and Shinji realized that she had been staring at her teammate. Chi frowned but then her eyes grew wide. In a flash she had grabbed her arm and they flew in the air. As soon as they landed (away from their previous spot) she pushed the two behind her and pulled out a kunai.

"Chi what the he-"

"Shut up!"

Shinji's mouth snapped shut. Chi took a deep breath, eyes still trained to the dark silhouettes of the trees. Ryuya's eyes were brimmed with tears.

"C-chi? What's wrong?"

Shinji would like to know as well.

"Just now, that wasn't your voice remember?"

Never mind, Shinji was fine without knowing.

"It was too loud, too high pitched and it came from behind me. You were standing right beside me."

Ryuya found that she didn't want to know either. She had been confused when she heard her own voice but thought that it was just her mouth working faster than her brain. It happened before so she just brushed it off. She never expected a potential enemy to mimic her voice.

Alas, they were shinobi and they couldn't just let their teammate surpass them. Besides, their sensei would show up soon so they only needed to keep up until then.

"Sensei is late."

Well that's just great. Shinji touched her tanto hidden behind her coat. _Perhaps this is time for Jigai?_

A spike of chakra alarmed the Genin and Shinji sighed, pulling out a kunai as well. Dying in battle was honorful as well. Ryuya, still pale, pulled out some senbon and Shinji vaguely remembered her being the only one in class who had perfect control over those things.

"How cute. Are you Konoha's newest shinobi?" A smooth, male voice accompanied by a masked figure entered the scene.

Cold sweat broke out and they unconsciously lowered their stances. Killer intent washed over the girls. Chi gritted her teeth, by now her eyes had become two bright yellow lights in the darkness.

"Ooo a Ketsueki, I thought they were all murdered?"

"Who are you?" Chi's eyes narrowed. Her clan wasn't that big and like the man said, they were all either dead or missing now. Yet, unlike the Uchiha clan, the Ketsueki clan was not well known. When they died, most people only found out after the Hokage had announced it. For a missing nin to know about her clan meant that he was from Konoha.

"I am Yatsushi. For now, let me entertain-" He stepped aside just in time to evade a kunai. Shinji had always been impatient and right now she did not have the time for a dialogue with the enemy.

The man, Yatsushi, sighed "No time for chit chat then."

His hands blurred and the ground beneath them burst open. The trio jumped in the air and landed much closer to the forest. Now that they were near the man, they could see the blood on the mask and cloak. A headband shone in the scarce moonlight. It was a symbol that neither Genin recognized, but they did see the slash across it.

 _We are in so much trouble... And where the heck is our sensei?_

Chi gulped and pulled another kunai out, this didn't seem like someone they should engage in a close taijutsu battle. Ryuya looked back, the ground where they had been standing on was completely destroyed. It had turned into a large crater and she felt sick imagining what would have happened to them if they hadn't moved.

"How about you ladies come with me, huh?"

"As if!"

Shinji cried and threw a shuriken to the man who simply caught it. Chi was about to groan when the girl smirked and brought her hands together. The shuriken exploded in his hand and smoke engulfed the area.

"Nice * cough* job!" Chi spluttered and squinted her eyes. The smoke cleared but revealed a log with the shuriken embedded. Shinji swore out loud, making Ryuya blush and Chi clear her throat.

"Does anyone sense him?" Chi whispered and Ryuya took this opportunity to prove her sensory ability. She closed her eyes and concentrated like Iruka-sensei had taught her.

"N-nothing. He's gone."

She barely had time to relax when a kunai came flying at her from the smoke. _What?! I didn't sense a thing!_ She blocked it just in time and spun around. The crater, she now noticed, was pitch black. Her eyes got drawn to the edges. _Is it smoke?_

Her breathing grew shallow and without a second thought she ran in to the forest, ignoring the cries from her teammates.

Shinji cursed again and looked at the crater. There were giant spiders crawling out of it and they all seemed to go after them. Running to the forest seemed like a great idea now. She nudged her tall teammate

"Oi Chi!"

"I know. We need to go after Ryuya. Stupid crybaby, this forest has spiders the size of her head!"

Shinji gulped but went after Chi anyway. It was best to stick together, she would beat that into Ryuya after they got out of this mess.

The trees loomed over them and sounds surrounded them from everywhere.

Ryuya was nowhere in sight.

Chi tried to ignore the cold feeling in her stomach but it only got worse the more minutes went by. She jumped over a log and looked around again. Shinji landed next to her and both girls winced when a loud 'squelch' came from underneath her feet. When they looked down, it turned out to be a large centipede whose guts were spilled all over her sandal. Shinji suppressed a gag and stepped aside to clean her sandal, very glad that Sasuke was not here to see her.

"Does your clan have any tracking jutsus?" She whispered while rubbing her foot down on a grassy spot. She didn't know much about her clan other than they must have had no creativity in naming her. Seriously, Ketsueki Chi? Who thinks of that?

Chi's eyes flickered to her and she found that they did little to calm her nerves. Her answer made her contemplate whether running away now was an option.

"We have one, but it requires her blood." Chi looked uncomfortable under the unbelieving gaze of the brunette.

"You know what, we are all going to have a nice talk after this." Shinji decided and Chi looked happy to agree.

They continued searching for their missing teammate when Chi stopped and slapped her forehead.

"I can make clones."

Shinji shrugged "Yeah, so? I can do that too. Just one though."

Chi shook her head "No, I mean solid clones who can help me search faster."

She formed the seal and much to the shock of Shinji, ten clones appeared. They all gave her one nod and jumped away.

"That's so cool!"

"That's how Naruto graduated."

"N-naruto?! Seriously? But then-"

"It's a kinjutsu. Only someone with our chakra reserves can do it. And before you ask, if Sasuke tried this, he would die."

Shinji lowered her hands and frowned, clearly not liking the thought. Chi gave her a grin but then turned serious.

"Found her." _That was fast._

"What? How?" It was clear that she was not moving without an explaination.

"Clones transfer their memories when they disperse. Let's hurry, she is in trouble."

They sped through the trees until Chi halted and motioned for Shinji to go the opposite way.

Both girls moved without a sound, until they reached a good spot for hiding. They were near a clearing and with some stretching of the neck they were able to get a good view.

Ryuya was tied to a tree and in front of her were three ninja's. Chi spotted Yatsushi talking to the others. They wore identical white masks over their nose and mouth and had the same black cloaks. The only reason Chi could recognize him was because of his chakra. It was foul and cold, he did not seem to find it necessary to conceal it.

Her eyes wandered to the spot where Shinji was. They looked at each other and Chi regretted not taking some of her blood, it would have made communicating a lot easier. That way she would have been able to tell her that her that they needed to investigate first before attacking.

The smoke bomb went off and Chi sighed before moving out. It was a terrible and rushed idea but they only had one shot. She threw in some bombs of her own, mixing a poisonous one with a normal one. The three missing nin were missing, but Chi had expected no less. She could only hope that they inhaled some of the poison. She cut through the mist and found her way to the tree.

Shinji was already halfway through the rope when Chi arrived and cut it completely with one slash. Shinji caught Ryuya before she hit the ground in shock and flung her over her shoulder. The trio fled the scene as quick as possible. They jumped from tree to tree until Shinji had to stop to catch her breath. They dropped to the ground and Chi went to check up on Ryuya. The girl was crying but Chi could not feel any pity for her. Thus she flicked her forehead and forced her chin up.

"Snap out of it!"

The blue eyes went wide and she nodded shakily.

"What did they do?" If they were after sensitive information then they had to hurry and warn the Hokage. And also their sensei since his information was not right and he needed to improve the security of the forest. And get a clock. Ryuya blinked and then her already wide eyes went as big as dinner plates.

"T-they wanted me to tell them about S-sasuke-kun!"

Shinji looked up in anger "WHAT?! How dare they! What business do they have with him?"

Chi was in deep thought but the loud exclaimation startled her and she slapped the back of Shinji's head. She had already formulated a reason. After all, it was written in the scrolls of her clan. The Uchiha's eyes were priceless. "He is a weak Genin at the moment but he is one of the last with the ability to awaken the Sharingan. That dojutsu is highly sought after. If they get Sasuke, they get the Sharingan and then there is real trouble."

She was about to answer their questioning looks when all the alarm bells in their heads went off. They ran before they even realized what was happening. Shinji was never more grateful for the countless awareness exercises in the Academy. Chi had gotten a hold of Ryuya and was speeding up. With a huge burst of chakra to her legs she jumped to a large tree and pushed her teammates against the trunk.

"They are after intel and we can't stop them at our level. So instead we must prepare to give them either nothing or false information." Chi made a shallow cut on her arm and dipped her fingers in the dark blood seeping out. Shinji and Ryuya looked at her in fear. Neither failed to notice the sudden darkening of her eyes.

Chi reached out to Shinji

"I am going to place a seal on you so that you can't give them any useful information. Stay still."

That last bit was unnecessary as the girl was mesmerized by the deep ruby color of Chi's eyes. The seal was drawn on her forehead and soon Ryuya followed. A dull pain spread through their heads when the seal activated and became invisible and both stumbled on their feet.

A flare of chakra made Chi look up. She grabbed the other girls and ran away, ignoring the burning of her legs. She was feeling the end of her chakra reserves nearing now because of the seals. She managed to keep the chase up for another minute but the three chakra signatures soon came too close and she was forced to stop.

"My, my. You girls sure can run. And poison? That was not very nice."

Yatsushi stepped closer and his pale green eyes curved in a smile. The two others were behind them, effectively surrounding them. Ryuya slumped against her arm and Shinji was pale, too pale. Chi could feel her own chakra seeping away to the two seals and cursed inwardly. Without their sensei they were helpless.

Something moved from behind them and her teammates fell to the ground. Chi jumped forward but felt her arm getting pulled back and twist against her back. A sharp pain exploded in her elbow. Yatsushi walked closer to her.

"You can rest for now. We will talk later, in a more appropriate fashion." His smirk could be heard in his voice.

Pain shot through her neck and the world became dark. Her knees gave in and the last standing member of Team 11 collapsed to the ground. The three shinobi gathered the three girls and disappeared in the dark forest.

Naruto woke with a start. His alarm clock displayed three thirty in the morning. His nightmare came back to him, but when he looked around he was still in his tiny apartment. He fell back to his pillow and turned on his side, soon snoring again. He was save, his house may be messy but there were no such things as centipedes in this place, dattebayo!


	3. Sensei has a bad day

Naruto was pumped up.

Today was going to be his big day. He would become an official member of Team 7 and then he'd show the world what he got. No more disrespect! With that in mind, he completely forgot about Kakashi's instructions and cleared two cups of instant ramen. He only remembered when he grabbed his headband and promptly cried out in guilt.

It took him two whole minutes of running around screaming before he cooled himself down and made three more cups. He carefully stacked everything in a bag and threw in some chopsticks. The blond then proceeded to scare the hell out of the village by power walking all the way to the training ground in a record time of two and a half minutes.

By the time he had arrived, Sasuke and Sakura were already waiting. They barely acknowledged him, though he had a feeling that Sasuke wanted him to distract Sakura who was clinging to his arm. He really wanted to jump and wave at them but ramen was more important.

"Ehh guys?" He had their attention now. He had to hurry, only fifteen seconds until the noodles were done.

"I accidentally ate breakfast today so I brought some for you too. I also made one for sensei but he is not here yet..." He lifted the warm bag up.

Sasuke scoffed and Sakura rolled her eyes "Baka! Sensei told us that we couldn't eat breakfast!"

Sensing that the noodles were about to go soggy, Naruto pleaded "But if you all eat then we're even! Besides it's just one cup of ramen-"

"I would never eat that! I am on a diet." Sakura declared and peeked at Sasuke, hoping for a reaction. Sasuke ignored her the way he had for the past years and eyed the back. He had done some training when he had woken up and was starving.

Naruto noticed his look and was almost tempted to tell the boy he couldn't eat it, but he remembered Chi's words and thrust the bag to him.

"Here, it's chicken flavor. There are chopsticks in the bag too. No napkins though."

Sasuke, who had been expecting an insult, was pleasantly shocked. Of course that did not show on his face but still.

"Hn." And there was the Uchiha pride again. Only this time his stomach seemed to forget whose body it was in and rumbled loudly. His team stared at him as his ears flushed red and he quickly went to grab a cup and chopsticks. Sakura shook her head and looked at the bag. Naruto was growing impatient but his stubbornness won over: he was going to make Sakura eat the food or so help him. It was the best way to show his skill as a gentleman!

"You know, I eat them all the time and I never gain any weight." He tried and winced when the girl huffed.

"Yeah right. Your clothes are just hiding it, but I bet that you are fat."

Naruto stared blankly at her and then handed her the bag. He was still looking at her when he lifted his shirt up, revealing his overly skinny abdomen. Sasuke frowned every so slightly and Sakura gulped. Not a word was spoken between the members of Team 7 afterwards. Sasuke and Sakura quietly ate the ramen and eventually Sasuke ate the last one as well, since there was no sign of their sensei.

The cups were cleaned out and neatly gathered in the bag. The members sat in the growing shadow of the tree. Sasuke was brooding, Sakura was braiding her hair for what seemed to be the hundredth time and Naruto was planning a prank fest. After he was done drawing and cackling, he turned to his teammates with an evil grin.

"How about we prank him?"

Sakura panicked and shook her head "No way! Did you forget what he said yesterday when your traps went off?"

Kakashi had declared that he disliked them severely and brought them to the roof for a dubious round of introductions. Then a teacher had stormed up to them and forced them to clean the entire room, Kakashi was long gone by then. Naruto waved her worries away.

"Relax, these are special ones. If he sees them, he might see how awesome I-we are!" He smiled his thousand Watt smile that blinded Sakura, made Sasuke look away and flash fried a dove.

"I-if you say so..." Sakura wasn't sure what to think of her teammate other than that he had a dangerous smile.

"..." Naruto looked at the other person.

"..." Sakura put on her best puppy eyes. Hey, she might charm him.

"..." Green and blue orbs stared at him. An innocent mouse tippling by melted away with a delighted squeak.

"...Hn."

"YATTA!" Naruto cheered and Sakura clapped before stopping herself with a shock. _Naruto-baka and I worked together._

There wasn't much time to be in shock however. The three separated the many papers and material they had together and got started. Soon all three were putting their utmost in the job, snickering under their breath every now and then when they attached a paper tag. Inner Sakura was raving and at times Sakura had to join her in an moment of awe when they got to the next part of the plan. Even Sasuke had to admit that these traps were of genius caliber. He never knew that the dobe was capable of such creativity.

Two hours later, they stood back at their starting points and looked thoroughly satisfied (in their own ways of course). It took another hour for their sensei to arrive but at this point Sakura and Naruto simply greeted him and Sasuke nodded. Kakashi's senses jumped into action instantly while his internal alarm shrieked.

No one had ever greeted him like this when he was this late. Not even the Hokage after so many years of him arriving three hours late. Nonetheless, his eye curved in a cheery smile.

"Good morning! I am sorry for being late but I got lost on the path of life." It was his most obvious excuse and it pleased him to see Sakura's eye twitch.

 _Ha, I win._

His eye went over the bag in the corner. All three suddenly looked guilty, Naruto the most.

"A-ah you see sensei... I was really hungry this morning so I ate some ramen-"

"And then he brought some for us to get even. He even brought one for you but you were too late." Sakura unexpectedly finished, startling both Naruto and herself. _It's alright. He hasn't asked me for a date yet and it was nice of him to bring us food too._ Her Inner Sakura calmed her internal turmoil down and she managed a smile. "So Sasuke-kun ate yours."

 _Yikes! What did I do?! Now he'll get in trouble and then he will never go out with me!_

"Hn, the noodles were cold and soggy anyway. You wouldn't have enjoyed it."

Now Naruto was just openly gaping and Sakura clutched her chest in utter shock. Kakashi was glad to see the Uchiha openly huff and turn away with a pink tint on his cheeks. He had been slightly worried that the kid was suffering from paralyzed facial muscles due to some fault in his genes. It would make sense since the pokerface was a clan thing and the Uchiha's married within the clan.

He eyed the team that he would have to test. _Truth to be told, they already passed it. Hmm, but that is not enough right?_

Kakashi smiled and pulled out the infamous twin bells. "Alright, time for the test."

He led them to the center of the training field, fully aware of the mischievous looks of his blond and pink student. Even the blue one looked amused. But not too much, just enough. His inner alarm was still blaring and he figured that it might have been better to just pass them. Especially since he couldn't detect anything odd. Warily, he explained the test, taking pleasure in how their tiny brains worked out the underlying issue of the two bells for three students.

He was so proud of them.

"So come at me with the intent to kill, okay?" He smiled and pulled out his book, noting the gawking expressions of Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke was full on amusing himself now, Kakashi was sure that he could recognize the Uchiha Lip Twitch #10.

"You sure sensei? You could get hurt." Naruto told him in all seriousness and his mind was in overdrive right now. He heard of this kid, of course he did. Besides the things every shinobi of his caliber knew, he learned that the boy managed to outrun ANBU and hid from them with success. He knew that he was responsible for the many pink files in the Headquarters and for the painting on the Hokage monument on broad daylight. He smiled again.

"I doubt that."

Naruto looked at him fellow Genin and shrugged "If you say so sensei." He formed a seal and all three immediately jumped away. Kakashi's sole eye widened when he felt chakra flare from all around him. The ground blurred and suddenly five large papers appeared with a seal on each of them. Instinct kicked in and he jumped up, right before the ground tore apart in a mass of explosions, paint and glitter. In awe, Kakashi landed on a nearby tree who immediately puffed away, making the Jonin jump away again. A leaf fluttered down and Kakashi just managed to spot the storage seal drawn on it. His heart leaped and he had to force the painful memories away. Instead he decided to move.

Like that a long chain of randomly disappearing trees, squirrels wearing a bomb suit (that was very disturbing and Kakashi had already planned a speech on abusing God's innocent creatures), doves that dropped paint bombs (that was impressive), patches of grass rigged with wire that triggered kunais and burning logs to fly at him, a very intricate, yet simple genjutsu that he admired for a moment before dispelling it, and a complex seal pinned to a bush that he didn't dare to touch out of fear for blowing up the village. It was Naruto after all.

After he was sure that all the traps were gone, he took a look at the destroyed training ground and then looked at his students in the tree.

He sighed "I didn't even say 'start' yet, did I?"

Sasuke would never admit it, but his first day of working together with his team was enjoyable. Naruto really stood out with his seals (apparently that was what he had been doing in class though he never really understood it) and Sakura straight out shocked him with her chakra control.

Since Naruto's genjutsu skill was abysmal, he and Sakura went on to design a simple illusion. In the end he couldn't perform it but she could. Of course it stung and he was determined to beat her, but in the end he would naturally become a better genjutsu user than anyone of them so it didn't matter.

He put his chopsticks down and looked at his team. They were sitting in a barbecue restaurant after blackmailing their sensei into paying for them. Naruto was sulking because it wasn't ramen, Sakura was fussing over her diet and Kakashi was reading his orange book. His plate was already empty. Sasuke's eye twitched, he hadn't even seen the man move!

 _Today was alright, but I can't afford to do this again. Kakashi has to start teaching me new jutsu or else I'll never beat that man._ Sasuke gritted his teeth and grabbed another tomato of his plate. He needed to get stronger.

Unbeknown to him, Kakashi was eying him over his book. It seemed that his message didn't came through to the kid at all. He looked at the other members. One was sulkily eating more than all of them combined, the other was picking out the least fatty bits while sending hungry glances at the juicy meat. He sighed again. _Sensei, what would you do with them?_

There was no answer. The clock on the wall simply ticked on.

"Yo!"

"Oi what happened to meeting at nine?" Anko threw a bottle at him the moment he appeared. Kakashi's eye curved into a smile.

"I was taking my team out of barbecue."

"Yeah, right. Come up with a-mpff-" Genma's hand clamped over her mouth as the entire group of Jonin stared at him.

"You passed them?" Asuma asked, his cigarette was balancing dangerously on his lower lip as his mouth hung open. Kakashi nodded cheerfully

"Yup. Actually they passed before I even arrived."

The room sweatdropped. _Of course he couldn't arrive on time on such a big day._

"What did they do?" Asuma inquired.

"They showed that they could work together for a single goal without tearing Naruto's throat out." The silver haired man opened his book and ignored the pointed look from his colleagues.

"How are they?" Kurenai asked "I did hear a lot of noise coming from your training ground."

"Yeah." Genma chimed in "Hokage-sama was staring at his glass ball the entire day and kept muttering about squirrels."

"Ah that. Let's just say that my training ground has changed." Kakashi explained sheepishly, deciding that telling them about the kamikaze-rodents would end with him and his team in a psychiatric asylum. No one was satisfied with that answer and he was sure that they would all make a trip to the field tomorrow to find the answer.

They would then see a pink, blue, orange and red glitter fest, would notice that a lot of trees were missing and they would most likely discover what that last seal did. Kakashi hadn't dared to touch it and neither did his team. When he asked Naruto about the seal, the boy shrugged _"Chi made me draw it once."_

Kakashi planned to have a conversation about the dangers of teaching potentially destructive seals to Naruto with her. He would also bug Ibiki to let him borrow the girl so that Naruto might be able to live up to his Uzumaki name. He sighed at the future of his team.

 _Forget heavy assault. They will be demolishing everything in their path whether they intend to or not._

"So now that even you have a team, and Gai's team is still breathing, that leaves just one person." Anko ginned evilly and looked past Kakashi. The Elite Jonin turned around and smiled at the sight of Ibiki who really wanted to blend in with the background. Too bad his black leather jacket didn't match the auburn bar. Asuma grinned at him, put his cigarette out, much to the relief of Kurenai, and instead downed his glass.

"You can't escape now. It has been two days and even Kakashi passed them. What are yours doing?'

Ibiki huffed "I am testing them to see if they can handle the job I am going to give them."

The room fell silent "Are you forcing them in the ANBU?" Kurenai narrowed her eyes.

"No, no. I am making them do a simulation of a mission. If they can handle it then they will have a bright future ahead."

"And if they can't." _God that woman was scary, and what's with her eyes? I thought only the Uchiha had scary eyes. No wait, Ketsueki too._

"Then they can no longer be shinobi." He finished his glass.

"Ibiki!" Half the Jonin glared at him in shock. He noted the lone eye of Kakashi studying him. He _knew._

"Orders are orders." The tension grew in the room and the barkeeper quietly walked to the far corner. The silence was deafening as all Jonins recalled who Team 11 consisted of. They had all received instructions to treat the trio as hard as possible and it didn't sit right with them.

"What's with this atmosphere?"

 _O no._ Ibiki almost paled (he is a Special Jonin after all) and turned around. Iruku walked in smiling. He looked at the group and specifically Kakashi. The question remained unasked.

The Jonin saluted him "They passed."

It took Iruka two seconds to take it in and then he sighed in relief. The tension had left. The Chuunin walked to the bar and ordered before sighing in relief again.

"Man, am I glad you took them over, Kakashi."

Said man turned to him with a questioning eye. The Academy teacher was know for his fondness for his students. Iruku shook his head and leaned on the counter.

"Not like that. I like the kids, I really do. But I don't think that I could handle them during their first kills and worse: puberty."

All the sensei's collectively paled. The thought of having to teach these kids how to kill was disturbing enough, them being driving by hormones was straight out terrifying.

"M-maa, if they pass the Chuunin exams early then it will be fine right?" Kakashi tried but to his horror Iruka just looked at him with a funny expression.

"What do you mean? Puberty has just kicked in, the exams are pretty much a deadline for all the talks since it basically throws all those teenagers in one unsupervised battlefield." He sighed once again and took a large gulp. "I am so glad that I didn't have to tell them about the bees and hees. Especially Naruto, I don't think the kid could understand how babies were made even if I showed him a movie."

Ibiki choked, Asuma lit two cigarettes at once, Kurenai looked pale and Kakashi dropped his book.

Genma just about died laughing. Anko was snoring in corner and the barkeeper looked thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Say, we could always organize a class for all of them at once right? And since you are their most trusted teacher-"

"Forget it Asuma." Iruka shook his head. "From now on they will turn to you for their problems. Besides, Gai managed it. How hard can it be? Of course, Naruto is a special case but I am sure that the famed Kakashi of the Sharingan can handle it." Iruka smiled innocently and the entire room wondered what made the man look so evil.

A cough announced Hayate's entrance, closely followed by Yuugao. "What's wrong?"

Genma burst out laughing again. "Man, you have got to hear this!"

And thus, the teachers had to listen to their verdict once again. It did not sound better.

Especially not when Hayate had to laugh so hard he started coughing and eventually fainted from the lack of oxygen.

 _Is it too late to fail them?_ Kakashi thought.

Of course, at that moment Anko woke up and demanded an explanation for the unconscious Hayate. The barkeeper had never before sold so many bottles of sake to the Jonin.


	4. You can't talk

Shinji jolted awake, gasping for air. Cold water dripped from her nose and hair. Pain shot through her wrists and ankles and her head throbbed.

"There you go. Now we can talk."

A woman's voice spoke from near her ear. She tried to move but she was tied to a rock hard chair. Panic started flooding her senses as she took in her environment. She was in a small room. All the walls were gray and like the chair, they looked like they had been carved out of a cave. There was a narrow door in the front with a huge lock dangling from the handle. Shinji doubted that the woman really needed it.

The woman walked around her and panic was now accompanied by rage.

"Who are you? What do you want from me? WHERE IS MY TE-"

A gloved hand pressed on her lips. Deep purple eyes stared at her, mocking her.

"You can scream all you want later on, sweetie. For now just save your voice."

If looks could kill, this woman had died and gone to Hell five times over. But they couldn't and thus she was still alive.

 _Still. Because once I am free, I'll put the Kyuubi to shame._ Shinji thought bitterly. With a start she realized that her hands were shaking and she clenched the armrest.

Her cheeks flushed when she saw her body. She was stripped down to her underwear and soaked in water. Even in these conditions she managed to be embarrassed.

 _Why did I wear this underwear?! PINK for crying out loud!_

She peeked at her capturer, she was wearing a black one piece suit with the same mask as before. There was a black whip attached to her belt, along with a knife on a chain.

 _She looks so cool! Wait, she is an enemy..._

The lady stood in front of her. The Genin was, to her credit, still glaring at her with the same stubbornness as a toddler who wanted a toy, although the blush made it less intimidating. The woman let her eyes go over the girl and only made her turn redder. Her eyes went back to Shinji's.

"What can you tell me about the Uchiha clan?"

Her voice was cold and sharp, in a tone as if she expected Shinji to answer immediately.

While she initially planned to curse at her and taunt her, Shinji found that she could not say anything. So she stayed quiet. The woman's eyes narrowed a fraction and suddenly a fountain of blood shot up. Shinji screamed when a short knife embedded itself in her thigh, and got pulled out. A deep cut was left behind bleeding profusely on her leg and she was already dreading the scar that it would become. It was almost hilarious how much she still cared for appearances when the chances that she would even survive were so slim. Shinji bit her lip and blinked the tears away.

"Let's try that again, shall we?"

 _In the second room~_

The man laughed while Ryuya cried. The chains grew hot again and she screamed. The sweet smell of burned flesh reached her nose and she gagged, only for a fist to connect with her jaw. Her head snapped to the side and bits of spit and blood flew out of her mouth. A hard pull on her hair made her face the horrible eyes of the man again.

When she had woken up it was because of a dozen of sharp needles stabbing her feet. Ever since then the man had asked her about the Uchiha clan and she failed to answer every time. It resulted in the scorched skin on her arms and legs. Ryuya sobbed, she had tried to stay strong but had given up, yet she still couldn't answer. The words just never formed.

She suspected that it was because of the seal but didn't dare to tell. She knew she was a coward for giving in so quickly, but she was not going to betray her friend. That was a rule that was drilled into each student by Iruka-sensei.

 _Konoha does not betray her allies._ And neither did she, damn it!

Instead she uttered some nonsense about a Sixth Raikage and a blue eyed Yokai. It was complete rubbish and the man knew it, so he punished her.

"You know, I can do this all day. I could even do this for months."

That was a bluff but she wasn't going to call him out for that. She simply closed her eyes. Her head slammed into the chair and her vision turned white.

"LOOK AT ME!"

The voice thundered and echoed from all around. Ryuya's eyes snapped open again and tears fell down again. She wanted to be home again, with her parents, in her safe bed. So what if she never became shinobi? At least she wouldn't be in her underwear chained to a chair.

"You are only making this harder for yourself, you know?" His voice was close, too close. Ryuya tried to squirm away but found that impossible. Luckily, he leaned away and instead stabbed a senbon in her neck. A flaming pain crawled up from her neck to her forehead and she screamed again. She was slightly worried about the seal becoming visible but the man walked away again.

Ryuya coughed and spit the blood on the ground. She needed to find out about her team. She remembered that Chi had no time to put a seal on herself. She was strong, much stronger than she and Shinji, but their captures were even stronger. For all Ryuya knew, Chi could be dead or dying and Shinji would be long gone. And that was unacceptable.

"Where are my friends?"

The little girl on the chair growled at the back of her torturer, hot tears running down her cheeks. His response was senbon to her chest, paralyzing her as the chains burned up again. But this time, she cursed at the man, wishing him to the deepest pits of Hell, that his limps may fall off and burn.

Ryuya was going to fight for her teammate's sacrifice and for her dignity.

The man only seemed to enjoy it even more.

 _In the third room~_

"WE ARE GENIN! We d-didn't even p-pass our s-sensei's test yet! W-what do you e-expect to learn f-from us?!"

From the moment that Chi awoke to electricity coursing through her body, she had been talking and thus far had succeeded in taunting Yatsushi. The man kept electrocuting her, to a point were all she could do was spasm uncontrollably.

It didn't matter to Chi. If she would die then at least she had managed to bother the bastard. Besides, her greatest problem was the constant drain on her chakra. She was running on empty and had to give up her own blood to feed the seals. She needed to rest or some blood to recharge. She was a Ketsueki after all. The clan that studied blood and practiced all the arts connected with it.

She felt faint and dizzy as yet another bolt shocked her. The pain had long given way for numbness.

"I want you to tell me about your classmate Uchiha Sasuke." Yatsushi was hiding his impatience well.

Chi spit at him "Why won't you?"

She was too tired to correct her slurred words. Her muscles were limp. Her eyes were drooping and her limps wouldn't stop shaking.

Yatsushi came close to her "I can let you rest if you want. But only if you promise me to tell me what I want."

Chi grinned wearily "Are you stupid, old man? I ain't telling you anything."

His eyebrows knitted together and he leaned forward

"What did you say?" He seemed genuinely curious.

 _Damn, my speech must be really bad now... Idiot. Must be a newbie at torture._

"S-stuuupppidd..." She slurred and slumped in her seat. The chains were to only thing keeping her from toppling over. She figured that he might stop now.

Yatsushi flicked her forehead and everything became clear at once. He saw her confusion and grinned

"Did you think I never tortured someone with electricity before?"

Chi scowled and fruitlessly tugged the chains around her wrists. It felt as if she had submerged in quicksand and only managed to get her head outside. Everything was limp and heavy like lead. Her bare skin was covered in dark lines, showing where the electricity coursed through and at some places the skin had melted away. She sighed at them and looked at the man again. Time to change tactics. Lifting her head with a conspiratorial smile, she looked him in his eyes.

"I you want me to talk..." She drawled, smug that he seemed interested. "then give me your blood."

The pale eyes widened but he schooled his expression again. Chi watched him with bright red eyes. She desperately needed some blood to gain some advantage and energy.

"I see... Is that the reason your clan was always despised?"

Chi scoffed, still eager to make her plan work one way or another. "My clan consisted of a bunch of jackasses who liked to creep the hell out of others. Of course they were despised." _Now get closer so that I can bite you and get your blood._ She almost scared herself with that thought.

Almost.

Unfortunately, Yatsushi moved away and casually send another shock wave through her body. Chi gasped and choked on some blood. She swallowed it again, she needed every drop.

"Hmm, perhaps my colleagues were more successful."

Chi hissed at him in anger and he send her a sweet smile.

 _In the first room~_

Shinji felt the knife leave a hot mark on her cheek, tracing a line from her cheekbone to her chin. It was one of many cuts she received and she already stopped dreading the scars. Now it was a game. A game in which she got hurt every time she did something right. She didn't know for how long she had been here and had no clue where she was but watching the lady growing annoyed was worth every drop of blood.

She was about to go and challenge her again when there was a soft knock on the door. The woman turned on her heels and opened it. The first man walked in. He send her a look and then looked at his colleague.

"Tooru's brat won't stop talking about a Sixth Raikage."

Shinji almost choked on her blood laughing. The whip struck her leg again and she bit her tongue.

"This one is no better. Seems like they coordinated."

Through the blood dripping from her eyebrow, Shinji tried to look smug at the two.

"Well, mine is busy striking creepy deals and questioning _me._ " He sighed.

 _Way to go Chi!_ The bleeding girl cheered her teammate on in silence.

"Perhaps you could help her. I already send Tooru at her but he started cursing at her two minutes after she opened her mouth."

The lady's eyes curved in a cold smile. "I'll be glad."

"NO!" Shinji lunged but couldn't move. "DON'T TOUCH HER!"

The knife buried itself in her shoulder and Yatsushi winced unsympathetically "That's harsh, Minji."

"Who cares?"

She pulled the weapon out and walked out of the door. Yatsushi followed her and soon Shinji was left alone, trashing in her chair and crying for her teammate to hear. There was a puddle of blood on the ground surrounding the chair.

Two doors further, Tooru was attempting to give Chi a crispy skin without success. The chains were glowing red, the skin was scorched black. Chi herself was convulsing but still gritting out insults. Minji took one look at her and decided that she was pretty impressive. Still, she could hurt her even more.

Yatsushi went and calmed his enraged colleague down and the chains dimmed again. Smoke rose from her skin and the smell of burned flesh filled the room. Chi fell back in the chair, panting and sweating from the extreme heat.

"So, the little brat won't talk?"

Chi managed to raise her eyebrow. "Another one with pent up frustration?"

The whip cracked and the left strap of her bra fell down.

"Ooo, kinky." Chi gave her a feral grin.

Truth was that she was nearing her ultimate limit. Both her chakra reserves and the energy from her blood were depleted. She _needed_ some blood or she was going to die. The first two men gave her nothing, but this lady reeked of it. Her weapon was bloodied and there were dark spots on her clothes. Chi's eyes glowed hungrily.

"What the f-"

Yatsushi cut the man off. "She is from the Ketsueki clan. Their eyes change with their mood, though I am not sure what red means."

"Does it matter?" The woman stepped forward, pulling out the chain. "I got her teammate to cry, I can make her bleed and _then_ she'll talk."

If Chi had the energy, she would have cursed at the woman.

The chain flew in the air, reflecting the candle lights, before it came down on her arm. It buried itself until Chi was pretty sure that it scratched the surface of the chair. She could feel the coldness spreading and a stinging pain overcoming the numbness. Minji pulled slowly, dragging a long line down her arm. Chi bit her tongue, tears burning in her eyes.

"Wait." Yatsushi stopped her and pointed. The skin that was supposed to be torn open and bleeding, instead turned black. The wound never bled. The skin split but the insides were black. The blade got pulled back and whipped out again to slash across her stomach. The bruised skin immediately tore apart only to reveal a similar view.

Minji stepped closer to inspect the injuries. Her scent overwhelmed the young girl. She had not drank enough before she left. She had needed it before because she had used the Kage Bunshin before, but there was no time. She needed blood right now.

And it got presented. The woman leaned close, her shoulder in front of Chi's face. Instinct took over and she lunged.

The cloth was no match for her canines and the skin broke just as easily. Blood spilled and she greedily drank it. Minji yelped in shock and pushed her off, but Chi had practiced for years. Those two seconds were enough to replenish some of her reserves.

Minji jumped back, dizzy because of the blood loss. The two men caught their female colleague and stared at her in horror. Chi was thrilled. She licked her lips clean and attempted to get to the drops on her legs. Minji could only watch and feel sick.

"Let's leave for now. We'll come back." Yatsushi hissed and they turned around only to walk into Tooru's back. He stared at the door and his team stared at him. He pointed and they all looked.

Two yellow lights reflected on the door. As one, they turned around and came face to face with the yellow eyes of Chi. She was still seated but it seemed a whole lot closer. Her teeth were bared and her hair stood on end. Minji let out an strained gasp when the eyes focused on her. It seemed to be the only visible part of her face, everything else was hidden in shadows.

Blood exploded from her injured shoulder, getting a scream out of the three adults. Chi cheered and eagerly caught the drops that got to her. Yatsushi lunged at Chi and managed to stab a green glowing hand at her neck. The bleeding stopped and Minji collapsed against Tooru. Chi's eyes turned to him. He felt his heart sink. The yellow seemed to pierce his soul.

But then it dulled and turned to the color of clay. She coughed "Her blood was not that rich..."

Her chin fell against her chest and the man could only watch her unconscious figure until his heartbeat slowed down.

 _Some time later, in the fourth room~_

A moan escaped her dry lips before Chi woke up. She was no longer sitting on the chair, she noted. She was on the ground with her arms tied behind her and her legs in front of her. It felt as if someone was beating a hammer against her skull, all her limps were shaking and burning. With another moan she let her head fall back, only to hit a warm surface.

"Huh? Oh, thank God, you're awake!"

A voice cried out and Chi winced. Another voice spoke up, much softer this time.

"Shh, she seems to be in pain."

Chi opened her eyes only to meet darkness. "R-yu... Shin..."

"Yeah, it's us. They got you pretty bad, huh?"

Chi fought both the nausea and the hunger "It smells like blood in here."

"Yeah, that's me... That ***** was very creative with her knife..."

"Ryu?" She was too tired to speak more.

"I-I got burned a bit... How about you?"

"Psh that is easy to guess. She gave us all a shock remember?"

Chi groaned and the two girls giggled. Then Ryuya spoke up

"I am glad that we're at least together. Even if we are in a cave." ' _At least we're dying together.'_ was the unsaid message but everyone understood and shared the sentiment.

"W-where are we..."

Shinji frowned as she heard the weak voice slur out a question. It was pretty hard to understand the girl.

"We're in some nasty basement with tons of mosquitoes and cockroaches that are driving us mad!"

Ryuya shivered and nodded even though no one could see it. Chi sighed and leaned against the warm bodies of her teammates.

"Oi, don't get too comfortable here. These bugs can smell it, I tell ya!"

Even in the terrible state the girls were (one sliced up, the other flambéed and the last shocked into next week) they managed a laugh.

"H-how long was I out?"

Shinji shrugged, Ryuya hissed when the rope around her burned flesh moved. Chi could hardly feel her own arms.

"Sorry 'bout that Ryuya. A long time. I don't really know. We might have been here for a day, but it could also be a week for all I know."

Chi leaned to the bloodied shoulder, her brain putting itself to work. "Your wounds are still fresh but the blood is old and dried. I'd say no longer than two days since you got out of her hands."

Whether one wanted to reply or not, the words got cut off by a soft buzzing sound and Ryuya cried out.

"They're back again!"

The buzzing grew louder and soon became part of an orchestra of sounds. Buzzing, creaking, fluttering and tiny steps. Chi jerked when she felt a weight crawl over her leg. Mosquitoes hummed in her ear and she shook her head, only for her headache to return in all its glory. Something walked over her stomach but she didn't want to look at it.

"It's in my ear!"

Shinji squirmed and shook her head wildly. Ryuya was in tears and hyperventilating, a huge wasp was flying around her. She sat as still as she could, trying to ignore the worms sliding over her legs. The bugs crawled over them, poking in their wounds and stinging them. It went on for hours, at least that's what it felt like to the three. Chi felt her head spin and decided that it was better to remain unconscious for the rest of the time. The screams and cries from her teammates faded and blissful oblivion took her mind away.

When she woke up it was to silent sobs. Her head was calmer and she took a deep breath. The air was a far cry from Konoha's air but it helped anyway.

"You.. awake again?" Shinji's severely weaked voice sounded gruff but worried all the same.

"Yeah... Feel much better now." Chi straightened up a bit and sighed. "How long do you think I was out?"

Her throat was like sandpaper, she realized.

"Who knows... A long time though. The bugs came back another time and left before you woke up."

Feeling guilty, Chi decided that it was time for them to put their exhausted minds to work. First she needed energy. She took a sniff, the blood on Shinji had dried completely and from the occasional attempt to scratch, she guessed that the wounds were closing as well. For now at least...

"Shinji..."

"What? No... Nicknames?" Her voice was too weak and with a start Chi realized that Ryuya had yet to say a word.

She swallowed and coughed "Y-you know... My clan uses blood for its jutsu's. It is also some sort of chakra to us. Or to me..."

She coughed again and decided to just go for it "Can I take some of your blood?"

Her voice echoed eerily in the dark but much to her surprise, Shinji shrugged "I guess... If there is still some left..."

"It is going to drain your energy a bit since the drops have to be enriched with chakra. I need one hundred drops. And then I can create a chance for us to escape... I hope." Chi heaved and waited for a reply.

"... Sure... I am not sure if we can move though... Ryu is out cold."

"I think we can handle it. Our chakra should be partially restored now anyway. It's the thirst and our injuries that are taking their toll."

"Hey... That's true... We haven't used it in days... I think."

Chi decided that anymore words were a waste of breath, _then_ worried about the amount of oxygen in this place, and just went to lean against Shinji.

"Here goes..." She muttered and bit.

Her teammate hissed and cursed, Chi had reopened a wound on her shoulder. A strange rush went through her and it felt as if the wound was closing all of a sudden. It was quite awkward, she found. To sit in the dark in nothing but your underwear and having a teammate suck out your blood. _Not something worth repeating._

The pressure on her shoulder left.

Chi's body was tingling. Her blood was rushing and mixing with the latest addition. Her chakra surged and gave her the energy she needed to locate the woman. She could feel her blood burning in her body and focused. In her mind's eye she saw her, sitting only a few meters away behind the wall. The wound was nearly healed. Chi could almost taste her blood again. She called upon all of the stolen blood and linked herself with the woman. Pain shot up in her back when she sat up straighter.

"Ninja art, Ketsueki style: Blood puppeteer."

Shinji's breathing halted when Chi's body went cold. She heard her murmur a jutsu but she had no clue what to expect. She gently nudged Ryuya because whatever was going to happen, they all needed to be awake. The small girl stirred in her sleep but her restored chakra reserves helped her wake up.

"Wha-"

"Hush! Chi is performing some kind of jutsu that might get us out!" Shinji had to catch her breath after that. Her throat hurt like hell and she was sure that moving would break the scabs on her wounds, making them bleed again. Ryuya's gasp was enough for an answer and both girls set on preparing themselves.

 _I can't wait to see the sunlight again! I am never complaining about anything again, except for sensei. That bastard! Whe-_

Shinji's train of thought got cut short when a new presence entered the room along with a sharp beam of light. Through tearing eyes, she managed to make out the form of the woman, Minji. The light disappeared again and Shinji couldn't help but feel grateful for that. She hoped that this was all part of Chi's plan.

Next to her, rivers of sweat were streaming down the body of Chi. She was forcing all her chakra and blood in this jutsu. They had to get out of here. The woman was resisting but could not do much when her blood forced her to walk to the girls. Her knife flew in the air and the tight ropes got cut, one by one.

"Y-you l-little..." She growled at the trio. All three looked worse then victims of Orochimaru, but it seemed that their chakra was restored. One was staring at her in confusion, the other was close to burning holes in her head with her scarlet eyes. The third one was her victim. And she was looking smug.

Minji almost cried out in frustration when the ropes fell off the girls. They quickly crawled up, staggering and leaning onto each other. Her only satisfaction was that it seemed to be extremely painful for them. Her body was burning and she could feel her wound bursting open again.

This time the terrified shorty snapped out of her confusion and quickly went and tied the ropes around her ankles. She could only watch. _Damn kid and her jutsu! Damn her all the way to hell!_

The burning of her veins had lessened and the girl responsible was shaking. _Just a bit longer... Just a b- DAMN YOU BRAT!_

The brat she had cut up had pressed her finger in the wound, reopening it and forced more blood to come out. She caught some of it with on hand and quickly went to her friend. Minji watched in disgust as the brunette attempted to get as much of her blood as possible in between the lips of the other. Immediately, the burning of her veins returned. The kid herself was impossibly pale and her eyes were glowing again. Then she spoke, gritting and hoarse, but with authority.

"Create a way out for us without alarming anyone." She had to pause but gathered more energy. "Or else I'll turn you in to a fountain."

Minji could feel her arms cool down and was temped to use them to destroy the girls but she remembered her orders. Besides, who knows how fast that girl could make her blood explode? Instead she formed some seals and hoped that they would get crushed underneath the rubble. Her lips were sealed close so she was unable to smirk at the shocked Genin who rushed to get away from the rocks that fell down. Minji realized with a shock that she had used to much chakra and had thus ripped the roof above them apart. She never got to realize she was free to move again though, for a rock hit her on her head.

Once the dust was cleared. The three girls scrambled to the source of light and air. Above them was a hole that lead straight into the daylight.

"Let's go." Chi coughed. Ryuya took a breath, inhaling the distant scent of leaves and jumped with as much chakra as she could muster in her legs. She shot up, ignoring the pain in her body and landed on a rough carpet of grass and sticks. She started crying.

Shinji grinned at Chi who returned it. Then they both jumped out as well. Though they both landed on their feet, Shinji immediately collapsed on the ground. Chi rolled her eyes. "We need to get out before they find out, ya know."

"Carry."

"Bastard. I went through torture too you know..."

Shinji shrugged "I gave you my blood."

Chi had the feeling that this would become a much used excuse in the future. _Because we are going to live!_

She took a refreshing breath and summoned two clones. They looked as bad as she did (and were also in their underwear) but went and picked the two girls up from the ground. With a grunt, they took off, running in what felt like the right direction. Chi could feel her blood call out to it's original owner and sped up.

Ryuya's foggy mind cleared as she felt the air rush against her. She was going to live another day. She was going to make it, she was not dying. Her heart lurched and she laughed. Not too loud of course, they could be followed.

Shinji was taking in as much as she could. Be it air, sunlight or the view, it didn't matter to her. She was free now.

Chi was glad to be the one to walk. Her abused muscles were finally moving accordingly again, though every now and then they would jerk aside or cramp up. She would have to come up with an explanation to Naruto. He was still too innocent and brash. She was like that too, once. But that time was far behind her and their capture only pushed her further in the mold of her clan. Her teammates would change though. They could no longer live like they used to, too much had happened.

A fence appeared and Chi squinted her eyes. Where they still in the Forest of Death? She signaled her clones and together they managed to barely jump over the dangerous points. When she landed, her knees buckled and she fell. The clones dispelled and exhaustion took over.

Shinji and Ryuya got closer to her and looked around. Ryuya brought her hands together "Release!"

Nothing changed.

"We... I can't believe we never left Konoha!" Shinji exclaimed and regretted it right away. The wound on her face started dripping again.

"Come on." Chi panted and got up again with the help of Ryuya. "The Hokage will need to know."

"And he will know." A male voice sounded and all three shot up and turned to it. There he was. Their sensei, Morino Ibiki, in all his scarred and black leather and bandana glory. Surrounding him stood various ANBU members and Chi tensed.

"Sensei?" Ryuya's voice shook with relief and she was about to run to him when Shinji grabbed her shoulder. Her eyes were dark.

"You knew?" The silence that followed was heavy with tension. Eventually Ibiki sighed "I told you that I was the head of the Torture and Interrogation unit right? I also told you about a test in this forest. It shouldn't be too hard to guess."

Shinji was about to snap when three familiar signatures jumped in. They needed to up their senses...

Ryuya gasped and stepped back. Chi automatically stood in front of them, her posture rigid. Shinji looked at them with no emotion. "Stand down, Chi. They are part of the test too."

Yatsushi came forward and even Shinji couldn't help but tense up. The man noticed and smiled apologetically. "You are right. I am sorry for all the pain we caused but we had to test you."

"How is torture a test?" Chi growled and Minji's face contorted. The blood in her neck was pulsing dangerously.

"Oi stop that!" Yatsushi called out, his hands up in the air when he realized what was happening. Ibiki looked on curious. Chi's eyes dimmed again. Minji panted and grabbed her shoulder. Ryuya looked at her teacher.

"Did we pass?"

This time the entire group, minus the girls, fell in to an incredulous silence. Ibiki cleared his throat and walked closer to them. They didn't flinch or moved their gaze. They all simply stared at him with the same question in their eyes.

"Do you all still want to become a shinobi?" All three nodded.

"You realize that with me as your sensei, you will be exposed to more horrors than most Jonins have ever experienced before? You will spend your days either in the office sorting through files and secrets that could cost us our village if they get exposed, or you will be out torturing and infiltrating. You three will have the highest kill count of your class depending on how the heavy assault team does." Three never wavered and Ibiki sighed again.

"Do you want us to fail?" Again it was Shinji who asked the real questions.

Ibiki looked at her. He had been feeling queasy for the past four days and now it was taking a toll.

"I don't. I also don't want to talk three kids into joining the underground world of ANBU and S-ranked missions. The fact is, however, that you three passed the test and are my students now. I am just giving you a choice to leave and live in peace."

"As long as I won't become an ANBU myself, I am in." Chi matched his gaze with her color changing eyes. Her body looked terrible. Purple lines branched on her skin, her veins protruded and her limps were constantly twitching. Her skin itself was either scorched black, bruised purple, completely black or paper white. He found that he had a hard time peeling his eyes of the gaping black tears in her flesh. Chi didn't seem too bothered by it but Ibiki suspected that it was the adrenaline and that she was going to fall apart in a hour or so.

He looked at the other girls and barely suppressed a wince. If Chi looked like a very curious case, then those two had to go straight into surgery. Shinji was cut all over. The wounds had either covered themselves in scabs or had started to infect. The wound on her face would definitely leave a scar. Her hair was matted with blood and clung together in a thick red mass. She was way too pale and already swaying on her legs. He'd have to carry her.

Or he would have to carry Ryuya.

Scratch that, they all needed to be carried. The short one barely had any flesh left on her arms and legs. It was all burned and melted away, the white of her bones showing through. It would take one heck of a medic to patch her up again. She was skinny too, he noted. He would have to get her a proper diet and some extra training. Her eyes were the worst. When he first met her, they were warm and filled with rainbows and hearts. Now they were suspicious and fearful.

His three students had broken and he caused it. Ibiki signaled his ANBU and they all left after a curious glance at his back. He summoned one Shadow Clone and looked at his new team. They all stared back with those worn out faces. He was going so going to get drunk tonight, and with a bit of luck a certain Chuunin wouldn't skin and deep fry him.

"I'll take you to the hospital. You all passed so you can rest now." He assured them and was relieved to see the tension fade. His clone carefully took his coat off and covered Shinji with it before picking her up and speeding away. The girl was out the moment he pulled her close.

The original took his coat as well and choose to wrap it around Chi. He couldn't risk aggravating Ryuya's burns by covering them with a leather coat. The two girls fell against his shoulder when he tightened his arms around them and went in a slumber. Ibiki pushed chakra into his legs and made his way to the hospital's special wing reserved for ANBU.

He idly wondered what the other Jonin had done and then remembered that they told him that very night after the graduation. Only Kakashi had nothing to say other than that he had his test tomorrow. Then the next evening at the bar, he showed up with a smug looking eye and declared that his brats had passed the test and destroyed the training ground. The entire bar then turned to him and he had to make an excuse so he claimed that they were doing some simulation of a mission. He still remembered the look Kakashi had given him. The man was a former ANBU, he knew something was off the hook but he kept quiet. Fortunately because Iruka had joined them.

He sighed again. He still couldn't understand how that man wasn't promoted to Jonin.


	5. You look different

"IBIKI!"

Said man jolted and a shot glass went flying. He turned around for help but all the Jonin and Chuunin coincidentally had their backs turned towards him or just ignored him.

He gulped.

Iruka stalked towards him, killer intent rolling of him in waves. No doubt that he had heard of Team 11's fate. And indeed, the man stared straight in Ibiki's eyes and held up a file. One that the Jonin had written himself no less than four hours before.

"What the hell did you do to those kids?!" He slammed the file down on the bar, the wood groaned.

"It took five medic nins to somewhat heal Ryuya, Shinji has over 500 stitches and Chi is still under observation!"

By now the other shinobi had stopped pretending and were gathered around them. Ibiki felt his stomach drop for the umpteenth time that day. Ever since he had brought the girls to the hospital, he had been receiving bad news. Like the fact that the shortest member of his team would be forever incapable of taijutsu, or that the tallest had developed physical problems.

The Hokage had listened to his report and soundly cursed the man behind the plan, before telling him that he was to treat them well and act as a proper sensei. Ibiki had requested for a week off and then remained in the hospital until a nurse gently chased him out. He then went to the bar and had ordered drinks ever since. The other Jonin and Chuunin had given him odd looks but had not questioned him. Not until the Academy teacher had stormed in, of course.

He could feel Kakashi's gaze on him and even Gai was looking serious for a change. He didn't dare to look at Kurenai.

"I- They passed." He eventually answered, carefully evading the blazing eyes.

"HOW WAS THIS A TEST?!"

The room fell into a tense silence. Iruka was known for his mild temper and cheery mood. The last time anyone had heard him this enraged before was when Naruto had been hospitalized after a mob. Asuma, sensing danger, stepped forward and pushed the teacher away from the Jonin.

"Iruka, calm yourself." He held his hand on the shoulder of the shorter man and faced the other. "I suggest you tell us what happened."

Ibiki signaled the barkeeper for another round and sighed. "I had to test them, just like you. However, because of Chi-" He trailed off and gratefully accepted the large glass from the barkeeper. He wanted to get totally wasted. His throat and stomach protested but he shut them up. "-it became more of a punishment to them."

"How come?" Asuma's grip on Iruka had not lessened one bit. Ibiki bit back his anger.

"Danzo..." He managed before gulping half of it down.

The temperature dropped even more, all the shinobi tense. Kakashi's eye was narrowed "Is it because of her bloodline?"

"Bloodline? Hang on a second, I thought the Ketsueki just had some weird clan jutsus?" Genma interrupted, looking alarmed.

Kakashi looked at Ibiki, who was looking miserable. When he spoke, his voice was slow and calculating. "They have a bloodline, quite literally. Not much is known about it, but their bodies allow them to do pretty much everything with blood. If they get a hold of your blood, you're done for. Or not, depending if you're an enemy or not."

Iruka had paled severely when the name of Danzo was mentioned and now collapsed on a chair. "Crap. He wants to make sure that all loose ends are gone."

Ibiki nodded, his eyes grim "Ketsueki are strange people- or were. They were only loyal to people they choose with a general exception of the Hokage. They were all borderline- or completely psychotic and their practices caused the villagers to be afraid of them. It's a miracle that Chi turned out to be so calm."

To everyone's surprise, it was Gai who spoke up next "The clan was slaughtered one year after the Uchiha if I remember correctly. They say it was an inside job as well." The spandex clad man had never looked this serious before and it unnerved several of his friends.

"Yeah, the clan elder brutally killed all of the members inside the district with the exception of Chi." Iruka sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Before, she used to be much like the other clan members. Always scaring her classmates with her jutsu and driving us teachers mad. After the massacre, she grew silent and started hanging out with Naruto as well. She never showed another jutsu from her clan again."

"So, what was the point of the test?" Anko leaned forward. Ibiki had kept most of the details to himself but she had noticed the change in his demeanor over the past days.

Ibiki finished his glass "I had to break them and make sure that they would never become shinobi."

"But why those other two girls?" Kurenai's voice was like a knife.

"There was not much hope for them." Iruka answered in his stead. "They had no special skills, barely enough chakra and not enough potential. I had tried to teach them some extra skills but it wasn't enough. I had to assign them to this team." The Chuunin was looking ill.

"They were just unfortunate enough to end up with Chi in their team." Ibiki sighed "I made them gather in front of the Forest of Death at midnight and had a trio of ANBU chase them. I was hoping that they would get too scared and would run off, failing the test. But they stayed and put up a good performance. So... I had to comply with Danzo's plan."

Ibiki's only pleasure was that he didn't have to call the man with the honorific.

"The girls got captured and trapped in a torture cell."

Asuma choked on his cigarette, Genma's senbon fell down and Iruka's glass broke in his hand. Anko whistled and got hit over the head by Kurenai. Kakashi's eye was downcast.

"The ANBU tortured them for two days before a certain event caused them to change plans." Ibiki recalled the report of a shocked Yatsushi.

"Chi managed to severely injure Owl and had to be knocked out. Then they got put in a chamber where they were put under genjutsu. That lasted for another two days before Chi, again, used one of her clan's jutsu and made Owl cut their ropes and create an opening for them to escape. She herself got knocked out by rubble. The trio escaped and I went to meet them. Shinji was the one who figured it all out first."

"And now?" Kakashi asked.

"Now... Ryuya has been healed for as far as possible. She had third and fourth degree burns and will be in and out of the hospital for a long time. She also needed a skin transplantation. Her muscle tissue has been partly destroyed and they almost had to amputate her arms and legs. Her parents are lucky that they don't have to pay the hospital bill. They seemed really intimidated by all the shinobi business, though they probably hate me..." _Of course they do. You nearly killed their daughter._

He ran a hand over his face before continuing. "Shinji will have many scars and suffers from severe loss of blood, but she'll be fine. She had some infections but they got taken care of. You should have seen the reactions of her parents. Totally unexpected. They were calm and with a sort of collected pride and her father even spoke to her as if she just saved a country." Ibiki frowned.

"Chi's case is just weird." He turned his glass, making a droplet inside twirl around.

"They even had to wake her up for an explanation. Apparently, she can control her blood to the point where a cut to her artery won't so much as drip. In other words, she can prevent any wound on her body from bleeding. The skin will just die the moment it's cut. She had been electrocuted at first and according to the doctors, she will suffer from psychosomatic pains and will have permanent spasms. Her muscle control is not even half decent right now, too many damaged nerves and stuff. Chi herself told me that her other injuries will recover over time. The skin just needs time to renew itself."

The room was silent. No one dared to tell Iruka that he needed to stop crushing the broken glass. Blood and beer dripped down on the floor. The barkeeper said nothing about it.

"What are you going to do now?" Kurenai broke the silence.

Ibiki stared in his glass and when he looked up, the entire room could feel his determination.

"I am going to create a trio of tiny, psychotic little devils who will cause Danzo to have a heart attack every time they get within a ten meter radius. Oh, and a flee on sight order in the Bingo book."

"Is that a challenge?" Kakashi's eye curved up and Ibiki just knew that the masked man was grinning.

"If my rival takes this challenge, then I must also do so!" Gai declared and struck his signature pose "Yosh! My team will enter this year's Chuunin exams burning with a youthful fire that will take down any competition! If they can't, I shall run two hundred laps around Konoha whilst juggling five kunai, with my feet!"

The room groaned but no one was really bothered. The tension was relieved.

"We'll see about that, Gai." Asuma grinned and lit up a cigarette. It was plucked out between his lips almost instantly by Kurenai (who nodded coolly) and she soaked it in his drink. The room burst out in laughter.

Genma looked at the shinobi gathered. The uneasiness they all felt when they thought of this year's rookies was understandable. After all, they consisted of various clan heirs, a jinjuuriki, the last loyal Uchiha and the last known member of a creepy clan. These Chuunin exams were going to be the most exciting ones in years.

Later that night, after everyone had left for the comfort of their homes, Ibiki received a message from an ANBU. Some unknown ninja had tried to get in the Ketsueki compound but hadn't counted on the thousands of traps and alarms. The boy was found struggling on his way up a ditch filled with hollow stakes. Why the stakes were hollow was a question no one wanted an answer on. It was reported that the ninja was taken to the T&I building and it was up to Ibiki to get an explanation out of him.

Ibiki sighed and was glad that he didn't order the entire bottle of sake like he had contemplated. He did drink the equivalent of a bottle (or two, three) in glasses and shots though. _I am going to pay for that soon enough._

He wouldn't get much sleep tonight and tomorrow he was going to the hospital for a visit before going out to gather information on teaching a Genin trio. Because he sure as hell wasn't going to fail them. Or scare them to the point where they would go to Anko for advice. _Definitely not Anko..._

Asuma was staring at his headband. His team was the latest generation of the Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi trio. They had enough training at home. He just had to be there for them. To train them in the general arts and to become their mentor. Easy enough right?

Kurenai thought so. She was new and inexperienced as a Jonin teacher, she knew that. But she had experience with being a mentor. She especially requested for the Hyuuga heiress to be in her team so that she could help her overcome her insecurity. The boys in her team didn't seem to be much trouble either.

Yes, Kurenai was going to be fine.

A few blocks further, Kakashi was looking at his team's picture. Sakura needed a wake-up call. Sasuke needed a therapist and a beat down. And his sensei's carbon copy needed some love.

They were so much like his old team. So much that it hurt. He didn't know how he was going to deal with them. Was he even ready for this?

 _I spend so much time on my own._

Not really, since Gai was always there whether Kakashi wanted him to be or not. It was almost as if the taijutsu master had a sixth sense for him.

A different excuse then.

 _They are just kids. Their eyes are so young, so innocent. I had blood on my hands ever since I turned seven. I am no good for them, even though Sasuke is so much like me and... Naruto is so much like Obito._ He tried to swallow the lump away. The mental image of the Genin merged with the picture. _Those three can not become like us. Never ever. I can't let them die._

 _But, I said that before and I failed._ His eyes burned and he fought the urge to go and wash his hand. _How am I supposed to be their teacher? How can I of all people teach them about teamwork and friendship when I broke the most important promise in the worst way possible?_

Kakashi fell on his bed with the picture clenched in his hands. _How can I?_

Outside of his lonely apartment, the rainy night sky was giving way to a sunny morning. It had been a long night not only for the Jonin, but for the hospital staff as well. The tallest of the trio of girls in the hospital had been relocated in the Intensive Care after a sudden drastic drop of her blood pressure.

Her IV-drip had been replaced with a heavy sedative that did not seem familiar to the staff. All the signs showed an attempt of murder. The nearby ANBU had immediately arrested the nurse who had entered her room last. It took five hours before Chi was deemed stable again and in the meantime, the Hokage had barged in looking enraged.

Ibiki had arrived shortly afterwards with a report and an angry glare at the ANBU guards, and left again with the suspects in tow for another round of interrogation. The remaining people hoped that their colleagues (both ANBU and the nurse) would come out with _just_ psychological damage.

The guards that were replaced with more refreshed ones, had reported all their information to their captain and the Hokage. Said Hokage was rigid and it showed. It was only after he was allowed inside the room of the girl when he calmed down. He entered quickly, leaving a bunch of elite shinobi sweating rivers with shaking legs behind. The nurses fainted on the spot.

Chi was laying on her back. If it wasn't for the bandages, infuses and the beeping machines, Hiruzen would have thought she was asleep. He sat on a nearby chair and looked at the girl. He was all too aware of the many complications in her past and present. And to top it off, she befriended Naruto, a boy with even more secrets.

 _I am getting too old for this._

"Hokage-sama?"

He looked up to see a nurse standing in the entrance.

"Yes?"

She bowed and walked in the room, a notepad pressed against her chest.

"Regarding the patient." Nurses and doctors in this section weren't allowed to disclose information to anyone without special permission. _At least they did this right._

"We have had her checked by a specialist after we discovered that her chakra reserves weren't restoring. It turns out that a portion of her chakra is constantly drained. We have checked her teammates as well and discovered that they both have a seal on their heads. We do not know about these seals and have no idea what kind of effect they have but they are still active because of the patient's chakra."

 _Well, fu-_

"Can you wake her up?" _I need to interrogate a brat._

"Not without supervision, sir."

"Then get supervision this instant." _Idiot._

The nurse jumped at the order and hurried away. Hiruzen sighed and looked at the girl again. _This damned clan is more trouble then it's worth... And this is just one member._

Supervision arrived in a record time of twenty seconds and stood there for a moment to catch his breath. The Hokage managed to not roll his eyes and gestured towards Chi.

"Wake her up." _Now please._

The man gulped and nodded "Y-yes, Hokage-sama."

He nodded again and quickly went to do something about the sleeping patient. They waited for a short while until her eyelashes fluttered and she opened her eyes. Much to Hiruzen's relief, her eyes were the color of dried mud.

"Good morning." He greeted her and signaled for the doctor to leave. The man complied and soon they were alone.

Chi's eyes moved to him "H-hokage-sama..." her voice was croaky but there were more important matters at hand. He decided to cut to the point right away.

"I've heard that you put a seal on your teammates?" _Explain, you little psycho._

Chi's eyes widened "Crap... I totally forgot."

"Is it something bad?" _I swear, if it is I am so going to-_

"No, no!" Chi coughed and continued "It's just- I thought- Ahem, Ryuya got captured for a bit and told us that they wanted information about Sa- someone. So I placed a seal on them so that they wouldn't be able to tell anything." Chi flushed under the stern gaze of the elderly man. She had almost slipped and revealed the name of her classmate. It had been one of the lessons from Iruka that stopped her just in time. The Hokage allowed an approving smile.

"So you prevented them from speaking about a certain somebody?" _Is that even possible? Wait. Danzo did it too. Damn._

"Y-yes."

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair. _Honestly, too much trouble._

"Can you remove the seals safely?" _You'd better._

"Of course! It's easy although..."

 _Don't you dare tell me you put a seal on your teammates that caused them to go mad or something, because I can and will assign you to catch the demon cat for the rest of your career._

She frowned and sighed "They won't be able to stop thinking about that person for a good couple of days... As if it wasn't bad enough." She muttered darkly and Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle.

 _You brat. What is wrong with you Ketsueki? Always finding new ways to scare the daylights out of me and potentially bring the Apocalypse to Konoha._

"Then I'll make sure that you can remove them as soon as possible and then you can recover as well."

He reached out and patted her head. Chi grinned weakly "I'll be fine Hokage-sama. I am a Ketsueki after all."

"Yes. That is exactly why I am so worried." He retorted and left the spluttering girl to her own devices.

One week later saw all four Genin teams outside for their regular D-ranks. Even Ibiki's team had to believe it and were currently busy bringing the mail all across Konoha. Though Ryuya couldn't do much physical activities so she sat at the top of the wagon, sorting through the mail, navigating and letting her team pull her ahead.

Team meaning Chi.

She was saddled with the heavy work because ' _I let you drink my blood!'_ while Shinji delivered. The undercover ANBU assigned to watch over them in Ibiki's stead was enjoying the sunlight and reminiscing the days where he had to do the same chores.

Team 7 was praying that Naruto would come out of the minefield in one piece after a giant Inazuka bull dragged him in.

He did.

Eventually.

Team 10 was cleaning the house of a wealthy old lady that smelled like soap and wilted flowers. Asuma was on his sixth cup of jasmine tea and desperate for nicotine.

Team 8 had the honor of catching the cat of the Daimyo's wife. 'Nuff said.

In the evening, all the rookie Genin had reported to the Hokage Tower and automatically waited for each other to finish and gather in front of the building. Shikamaru noted the strategical positions of Team 7, specially designed to keep Sasuke from walking off.

"Alright kiddos, we're done!" Asuma greeted them. The Jonin were done with their reports as well and he personally couldn't wait to get out of his estranged father's sight.

Kakashi, with his nose buried in his book, saluted "Team 7, same place and same time tomorrow." and he was gone.

Naruto made a face at his empty spot and Sakura rolled her eyes. "If only you were on time as well."

Asuma chuckled and looked at the group. "Same goes for us."

He nodded at his team who barely paid him any attention. Kurenai slapped his arm and faced her group, who were actually looking at her.

"Let's gather at the gate at nine, okay?"

Akamaru barked and the rest nodded. The two Jonin left, Kurenai calm and Asuma sulking.

A cough got the attention of the Genin. Team 11 looked up at their sensei who just arrived. He was holding a copy of their report and frankly, looked amused. However, 'amused' on a face like his was just wrong. The Genin subconsciously stood closer to one another.

"You brats. You can't just put comments on the envelopes."

Shinji shrugged "But sensei, we were _helping_ those people!"

"How is 'You shouldn't wear green ribbons in your hair, it makes you look like an oak' helping?" Ibiki waved the paper. He requested a copy after reading it. Office wasn't always that exciting and this would certainly make his day.

"But sensei, she had a dark brown perm! And she was the size of a bear." Ryuya nodded fervently and Chi looked away, not disagreeing.

"Then how about this one: Please don't ever bend over." Ibiki rose his eyebrows and the girls shuffled. Behind them, Ino and Kiba were biting their fists. Naruto didn't bother and just laughed, forgetting about his own adventure today.

"She had a _huge_ butt." Shinji claimed, eyes wide like dinner plates.

Ibiki shook his head, the entire report was filled with these things. "Hopeless." He flicked his wrist and left.

"What did he do?" Chouji wondered out loud.

"It's sign language."Chi explained. "Ibiki-sensei is teaching us so that we can work at the office better."

"Office as in the ANBU headquarters?" Shikamaru drawled, eyes sharp.

Ryuya nodded and shrugged "It's just paperwork. Nothing special."

"Who cares!" Naruto shouted "Let's go eat!"

"Together?" Ino asked thoughtfully.

 _HELL YES! Now I can eat with Sasuke-kun!_ Was the collective thought of three girls. Sakura, surprisingly, was the only one of the regular Sasuke fan girls that didn't share the joy.

"Yeah! The more the merrier!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Sure I guess. But no ramen!" Sakura hurriedly added.

She (and every girl safe Hinata and Chi) glanced at Sasuke. The Uchiha was still here and didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. Inner Sakura sighed in relief.

The past two weeks had been strange. It was obvious to everyone that Naruto was trying his hardest to not insult Sasuke and he kept biting his tongue near her. Kakashi even asked him if he was constipated.

Sakura had to admit that she was pleasantly surprised by the blond, though he was still loud. _Very loud._

Sasuke had yet to say a kind word to either of them. It irked Inner, much to the shock of both Sakura's. Kakashi had worded her feelings and all Sasuke could say was that they were annoying. Kakashi had not been very happy with him.

The raven haired boy had to run around the training ground during lunch after that. Still, Sasuke claimed that it was a better way to spend his time instead of _talking with them_.

Naruto had all but exploded afterwards and had taken to punching holes in a tree. Sakura remembered feeling both smug and guilty when Sasuke's jaw nearly slacked. Naruto had leveled the massive tree in three attempts. Kakashi had looked at them and dismissed them, his voice cold as ice.

Sakura left and in a fit of sadness _(or rage?)_ started to run until she was too tired to be confused. The next day, their sensei lightly commented on Sasuke's bandaged hands. Neither she or Naruto looked at them or at the damaged tree that was still standing.

The group started walking in the direction of a restaurant Choji recommended. Said boy lead the way with a proud smile. Naruto and Kiba were in a furious argument, Shikamaru was half asleep and kept muttering 'Troublesome' under his breath. Ino was fruitlessly trying to catch Sasuke's attention. Shinji and Ryuya went close to him once and received a punch from Chi who from then on dragged them ahead. Sasuke was glaring again. Hinata and Shino walked in silence.

Sakura realized with a start that she was walking alone. Normally she would be walking next to Sasuke, asking him for a date. She found that she didn't feel like it. She liked him, she always would, but right now she was mad at him. He clearly didn't think much of her or Naruto. Her fist clenched and anger boiled up when she realized that she was almost crying.

 _Why can't I be as good as them? It's not fair. Everyone has a special ability or bloodline or something, but I don't have anything._

Shinji and Ryuya were in the same boat, she knew that. But she had also seen the change in their eyes. They had been told that Team 11 had a very hard and cruel first test but it was never elaborated upon. All that she could guess was that they were marked permanently because Ryuya had to be carried most of the time and all three wore long sleeved clothes.

Shinji's scar on her face was prominent and fresh. Ino told her to put some lotion on it while Sakura recommended make up. She still felt how her face grew hot when both girls looked at her. Ino told her that make up would cause an infection and Shinji remarked that she was a shinobi and not a model. Whatever changed her that much in just one week was a mystery that Sakura didn't try to solve. She could still be pretty and a shinobi!

 _Right?_

A bright light shone in her eyes and she squinted. They had arrived at the restaurant. She felt a presence next to her and noticed that it was a very subdued Naruto. He hid behind her until they arrived to their table and then proceeded to sit at the very end, squished between Shikamaru and her. Said genius raised an eyebrow at him.

"Heh... They don't like me that much." He explained sheepishly and quickly turned his attention to the menu, lifting it up to hide his face.

 _Yeah... Why actually? Every villager seems to hate him, our teachers at the Academy as well. Except Iruka-sensei but he likes everyone. I wonder..._

Her stomach rumbled and the card was pressed under her nose. When she looked up she saw the calm eyes of Chi. With a tiny smile she accepted and decided that for tonight it was alright to indulge. When the waiter arrived she ordered the juiciest meat she could afford, ignoring the stupefied look of Ino. She was going to enjoy tonight, she deserved it.

Naruto nudged Shikamaru and whispered something in his ear. The genius frowned but didn't say anything. When it was his turn to order, Naruto was pretending to pick up a napkin while Shikamaru ordered enough to shock even Choji, who until then had believed that he was just too lazy to eat more.

 _But why only the cheap stuff?_

The waiter left and Naruto emerged again, thanking Shikamaru. No one knew how to comment on that and they just tried to hold a conversation.

The same thing repeated itself when their food arrived and this time they demanded an answer. Naruto poked his rice, looking more sullen than they had ever imagined possible. When he looked up, however, he had his big, annoying smile on.

"Maa, I think I once played a prank on them so they don't really like me."

 _What an obvious lie..._

Kiba's eyes narrowed but the smell of meat drew his (and everyone else's) attentions. Without exception they, even Sasuke, jumped to their shares. Dinner was spent happily and in the end they even got a discount since the restaurant was owned by Akamichi.

Tomorrow they had another long day of D-ranks and training but for now they were enjoying themselves. When they had to part, they shouted their insults hidden in a goodbye and ran off laughing. Sakura couldn't remember a time where she had been happier. And as a cherry on top, she had seen Sasuke sitting alone during the boisterous meal. No one tried to talk with him.

Somewhere in her heart she felt guilty and believed that she had ruined a good chance with him, but her Inner Sakura convinced her otherwise.

She could always try again.


	6. Get out of the office

"KAKASHI SENSEII!"

 _O God, I knew I had to come by three hours later instead of two and a half._

Kakashi winced and looked at the orange bouncy ball in front of him. Naruto looked like he was on a sugar rush, he probably was judging by his sweet breath. He looked to the other students. Sakura was covering her ears and Sasuke was glaring at nature for whatever crime it had done to him.

 _How original._

"What is it, Naruto?"

He decided to get to the point rather than giving them another halfhearted excuse. They didn't seem to work that much on him, he discovered.

 _They should get angry and shout at me, but noooo the little devils have to rig the entire field and make every morning an obstacle course._

After the first day, Naruto had started using him as a target for his latest pranks under the guise of them being practice-traps for enemy shinobi. Little devil never noticed that Kakashi was spying on them and could clearly hear his evil cackles.

Sakura occasionally joined him and thankfully kept an eye out for plain catastrophic (for Kakashi) ideas. Kakashi should be glad she did, but he had seen her longing looks and heartfelt mutters towards the explosive tags, shurikens, and mysterious seals. He was just very relieved her common sense won over.

Most of the time.

Sasuke completely forgot or ignored the first lesson he was taught by Kakashi and just went to sit away from his scheming teammates. The boy was really starting to irk the man, especially since Kakashi knew that he used to be so much like him.

 _I guess there was only enough DNA for one decent Uchiha in the entire clan..._ Kakashi thought sadly before focusing his attention to the blond.

"CHI TOLD ME THAT-"

Kakashi shoved a ration bar in his open mouth. Naruto choked, then tried to chew on it, gagged at the taste (Kakashi could not blame him) but managed to force it down.

"Right, now with our inside voice."

"Oke. Ahem." The kid took a deep breath and Kakashi braced himself. Naruto's inside voice was comparable to Gai's whisper: too loud to be commonly and socially acceptable.

"Chi told me that they had a race with Team 8 but the rule was that they couldn't touch the ground!"

Kakashi sighed but a light bulb went on in his head. _This exercise should keep him busy long enough to give me a peaceful day._

So he lifted his head, curved his eye and clapped his hands. "Alright. I am sure that you want to race as well right?"

Naruto nodded fervently, Sakura looked curious and Sasuke had Uchiha Scowl #3 (interested but annoyed by surroundings) on.

"How do you think they did it?"

Naruto was bouncing again but with no answer. Kakashi grinned and eyed could already imagine the awes when he walks up that tree without hands. And he could envision the many poor attempts of his tiny students. They were so cute when they were exhausted and bruised.

 _One training field further~_

"For crying out loud, Shikamaru!" Asuma cried out as the laziest member of his squad started snoring on the highest branch.

He had mastered tree-climbing within minutes after he actually started and used it to walk up the highest and thinnest tree he could get up safely, and went to sleep. Asuma was impressed at first and let him be to instruct the other members, but after half an hour he figured that it was time the kid got down. Of course, he couldn't go to him to wake him up, Shikamaru was a genius for a reason and had chosen a tree that would definitely snap under their combined weights if Asuma climbed it.

 _Damn Nara._ He cursed and tried threatening.

"OI SHIKAMARU!" He hollered and was pleased to see the boy twitch awake. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN OR I'LL CUT THE TREE."

At this, Shikamaru got up and looked down. "No you won't. I'll die if I fall from this height." _And you like me too much so you won't risk it._

Asuma gritted his teeth and accidentally crushed his cigarette. He spit it on the ground and pulled a new one out.

 _This is going to be a long day._

He desperately wanted to get his team in the race with the other teams. Team 11 had learned the technique after one of the girls crashed into Ibiki one time too many. Kurenai taught her team after Anko called one girl and she appeared right above them, sticking to the ceiling. Both woman had bragged about the kids that evening at the bar.

It turned out that Gai's team already knew how to do it and Asuma suspected that it had triggered Kakashi's competitive spirit. He could sense the huge chakra spikes from the Uzumaki kid all the way here.

 _Damn, I wish I had that much chakra..._

Naruto sneezed and lost his concentration, subsequently falling down. Sasuke noticed this, smirked, forgot to send his chakra to his feet and fell too. Sakura stared at them from the top branch in shock, mouth opened.

Kakashi had a great time.

So did Kurenai and the rest of Team 8, sitting around a table eating dango. Of course, they weren't the one paying. It was Anko who did. Team 11 had lost the race yesterday and thus Anko had lost her bet. She was now angrily chewing on a empty stick of dango while her snakes made sure that Team 11 was being punished.

The trio of girls were doing upside down squats on a branch. They had been doing this since the end of the race and that had been two hours ago. So far they had just cried out because of their sore legs and not so much because of all the blood rushing to their heads. This was, of course because Chi was controlling their blood flow.

After she got released from the hospital, Ryuya had offered her blood to Chi who accepted. For this exercise it meant that both Ryuya and Shinji were doing reasonably and Chi was about to collapse.

 _Well, she was the one who ruined it._

Anko growled and her largest snake hissed, scaring Shinji into super speed squats. Ryuya was very happy that she was allowed to take breaks because of her injuries. She had also been spared during the race as Shinji did half of her part.

 _Who the hell has that much chakra as a Genin?!_

Chi's part of the relay race had left a trail of destruction and the tree at the finish line couldn't handle it and exploded. Of course they were disqualified. _Damn brat._

Kurenai thoughtfully chewed and looked at her team. Kiba was wolfing the dango down and fed Akamaru too. Shino's sticks were disappearing behind his collar and reappeared empty. Hinata was shyly munching on one. Kurenai smiled at her. She had a nice team.

 _I have a terrible team._

Asuma looked at the brats that were ruining his proud-sensei moment. Ino had stopped walking up the tree the moment she was able to reach the ten meter bar and then started fussing over her hair and clothes. Choji was munching on his chips from the thickest and also lowest branch. Both Asuma and Shikamaru had discouraged him from going further out of fear that the branches may snap. And Shikamaru...

 _Shikamaru..._ Asuma growled and glared at the boy who was still watching the clouds. He had tried bribing and threatening but nothing had worked. _Nothing, except maybe..._ "SHIKA! Get down or I will go to your house and tell your parents how incredibly disappointed I am!"

Parents as in his mother. Shikamaru got that much too and made his way down without complaints. Asuma grinned evilly: he was still going to talk to his mother.

He declared that loudly at the bar that evening, smirking happily when Nara Shikaku winced. The man had decided to tag along with Inazuka Tsume and was playing (read: destroying his opponent) shogi with Genma. The man was close to crying.

"Maa, I'm pretty sure that Naruto is still practicing his tree-climbing skills." The masked man commented lazily. His free hand stroked the dark fur of the huge Inazuka companion.

Kurenai's eyes widened "Seriously? How much chakra does he have?"

Kakashi smiled at her "His Uzumaki blood provides him with at least four times my chakra."

Asuma felt faint. In fact the entire room gaped at the copy-nin. Then Ebisu leaned forward "And with the... you know?"

Kakashi's eye turned to the man "A hundred times, but probably more."

Ebisu paled, looking frightened. Asuma had to sit down and ordered a strong drink, Tsume followed suit though for other reasons. Kurenai promptly collapsed on Asuma's lap. No one commented on that, thankfully.

"A-anyways..." Anko tried to change the topic. "how are the other maggots? Ready for the race?"

"I forced Sasuke to go home or else I'd had to carry him. After falling down for the two hundredth time and being unable to get up without wobbling knees, he left for the sake of his pride. Sakura managed it on her first try and made the kid jealous. I'm sure Naruto will succeed sometime tonight as well. I have no doubt that they want to compete." Kakashi concluded.

"Hmm, like I said, Shikamaru already knows it but it will take some serious bargaining to get him to participate. Something his mother might be able to change..." Asuma muttered and Shikaku choked on his sake.

"Ino is doing reasonably and we couldn't risk Choji falling of the tree so I'm not sure how high he can go. They will be participating though."

"If ya kid is too heavy for the trees, he can try buildings you know." A gruff voice alerted them on Ibiki's arrival. The man nodded to the group and made his way to the bar.

Kurenai smiled at him "Ibiki, how are your girls?"

"They're not _my_ girls." Ibiki grumbled "and the last time I saw them, Ryuya and Shinji were feeding Chi lemon-water and sugar cubes."

He send a pointed look at Anko, who was fascinated by her drink.

"I know what you did. I also know that they lost because they only trained on even surfaces like the walls, and not trees." Anko relaxed a tad.

Genma let out a wail. He had been annihilated. Shikaku gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and walked to the bar. "Say Ibiki, how are you planning to let them do missions?"

Ibiki downed half of his drink. "I don't know."

"Aren't they already doing missions?" Ebisu wondered. Next to him, Iruka was pretty sure they were.

"They are, but I can't be there with them. I have too much work at the office so an ANBU goes in my stead." Ibiki said.

"But they can't keep doing that." Anko added and the two men nodded. ANBU were trained assassins, not baby-sitters.

"Are they even capable of any difficult missions?" Shikaku informed with a knowing look. Ibiki's shoulders tensed and he put his glass away, suddenly not feeling like drinking.

"Ryuya will have to stay in the office. Her injuries are healed but she needs regular check-ups and she is just too weak by nature. I doubt that she'll even become Chuunin, she lacks the skill to become a fighter." Ibiki scowled and put his glass away.

"How about the other two?" Kurenai asked and to everyone's relief, Ibiki's expression loosened.

"I see a bright future as interrogator for Shinji. She's sharp, to the point and stubborn as a mule. You should see her discussing with some ANBU, she is a fierce one.

"She could become a spy." Genma uttered but Ibiki shook his head.

"She is from an ancient samurai family. Her uncle is one, her father isn't. They don't interact a lot but many traditions and the moral code has passed down to her. She is too honest and noble, can't swallow her pride. She'd get exposed on her first day as a spy." He chuckled and then took a sip of his drink.

"I suppose the last one is a lost case." Shikaku yawned but no one was fooled.

"Yeah..." Ibiki's face turned sour again. "She is a fighter by nature and has both the stamina and jutsu's, but her bloodline is the problem. I want to make good use of it."

"Ketsueki were mostly used for first infiltration and then assassination. Also sensory and tracking. Some were medic but no one wanted to get treated by them. Their front fighters were a scary bunch but their jutsu's were quite unconventional due to their nature. Very bloodthirsty." Shikaku summed up "It all depended on their branch."

"Branch?" Gemna questioned. Everyone ignored the horrible joke, much to the disappointment of Shikaku who sighed.

"Yeah. Ketsueki shared the same bloodline: they controlled blood and all it's aspects. But you can do a lot with blood and some had more skill in healing someone and others were specialized in controlling someone. It really depended on the person."

"Hang on. Control?" Asuma ordered another round, he had a feeling that he would need it. Kurenai was still sitting on his lap, not that he minded.

"The moment you give them your blood, they can control it and with it they control you. They can sense you, recover you from injuries and control you like a puppet." Shikaku smiled a lazy smile. "They were crazy but very useful."

He looked at Ibiki "Have you given her your blood?"

Ibiki stared at the man "No, should I?"

"Hmm depends on what you want. It could be very useful depending on how skilled that girl is." Shikaku shrugged.

The room took a moment to absorb the information and then Kakashi brought them back to the topic at hand.

"What are you planning for her?" _Perhaps it could be of use for Sakura._ He mused.

"I don't know. She refuses to become an ANBU for some reason."

 _I should not have said that._

Kurenai's and Iruka's killer intent flooded the room. Asuma flinched from the proximity.

"I didn't try to get her in!" Ibiki added hastily and the intent faded, but was still there. "I just don't know. I can't train her enough to become a front fighter and I don't want her to become a torturer."

"Aw, you do care!" Anko smirked and ignored Ibiki's glare.

"How about you let her train with our teams?" Kakashi proposed. "She's certainly welcome in my team."

 _She can help Naruto with fujinjutsu while I can supervise and she might get Sasuke off his high horse and oh boy could she help Sakura..._ His exterior revealed nothing of his fanatic train of thoughts.

Gai opened his mouth and Asuma immediately jumped to Chi's rescue even if the girl would never find out.

"Team 10 is available too."

Gai tried again and Kurenai interrupted this time "So is mine!"

"My-"

"Thank you. I think that will be enough for her." Ibiki quickly finished. Gai sulked.

"You know, " Iruka spoke up absently "I asked her once. She said that she would like to become a Jonin sensei."

The group stared at the Chuunin who merely shrugged "She can always do that though."

 _The very next day in the T &I office~_

"BRATS!"

Ibiki was pleased to see the three flash in front of him. Chi's hand were dyed red from all the stamps she had to make. Ryuya and Shinji were red from the many paper cuts.

Ibiki did not feel sorry.

Not after Shinji tried to make him coffee and Chi started laughing when he stumbled to the bathroom looking sick. He felt a little bad for Ryuya, since she brought him a delicious cake and made him proper coffee.

"I want a clear and honest answer." All three nodded.

"What do you want to do later on?" They fell still and thoughtful. Then Shinji straightened her back as a sign that she wanted to speak. Ibiki nodded.

"I want to take your position."

 _Control yourself Ibiki. You can't throw a Genin out of the window, calm down. We don't even have windows._

Inoichi wasn't even hiding his amusement and giggled with Shikaku in the corner near the coffeemaker.

 _One day..._

Ibiki coughed, send a glare at them and looked back at his student. "And why do you want to become the head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit?"

Shinji cleared her throat and Ibiki already regretted asking her.

"Well, first of all I want to change the name. Right now it's too dull and obvious. We should change it into 'The Counseling and Communication Unit'. Or just Communication."

Ibiki felt a headache come up, a familiar one. One that always arrived as soon as Shinji had an opinion.

"Counseling and Communication?"

Shikaku snorted and Inoichi continued giggling. Shinji was not deterred, not in the least.

"Yes. That way foreign nin won't have the idea that they are being interrogated. Interrogation has a negative image, counseling has not. If you tell a foreign nin to talk with the head of Torture and Interrogation they will feel attacked and close up on themselves. However, if you tell them to 'please talk with the head of the Counseling and Communication unit' they will suspect nothing."

"And they won't take us serious." Ibiki was starting to get annoyed by his seniors in the corner.

"Even better! That way they will underestimate us and give us way more information than they are supposed to." Shinji declared with a confident nod.

 _Well, I'll be damned. That is actually a half decent idea._

Ibiki sighed "Alright you brat. If you are absolutely sure that it works, then go consult with the Hokage."

 _I don't feel like dealing with it._

Jaws went slack. Mainly in the corner. Yet Ibiki had the feeling that they approved.

One ANBU fell off the ceiling. He would deal with that idiot later on.

Shinji's chest swelled with pride, but Ibiki saw something in her eyes. Something that warned him that she had another opinion.

"As a matter of fact, I think you should discuss all of your ideas with the Hokage and then let me know."

Another ANBU fell. Shikaku was nodding slowly and Inoichi looked impressed sipping from his giant teddy-bear mug. Shinji stepped back, practically beaming. He looked at the other two.

"Shorty?" Ryuya bristled at the nickname but stepped forward anyway.

"I want to become Anko-san's apprentice."

Inoichi spit his coffee all over his friend who was too busy counting all the reasons why she should not. And there were a _lot_ of reasons.

All remaining ANBU fell down, be it from the ceiling in this room or in the hallway where they could hear them.

Ibiki needed alcohol.

"Anko- _san_?" He stared at the girl incredulously. To his shock, none of the others looked surprised. He shook his head. _No way. NO FREAKING WAY. I am not letting Anko corrupt her._

"NO."

His reply was a bit loud and harsh but Ibiki felt that it was necessary. It was _ANKO._ He was so going to get Iruka and make her do D-ranks for a month.

Ryuya shrunk a bit but was already used to his killer intent. Not that that was a good thing.

Ibiki looked at her "Would you like to work at the Shinobi Archive?"

 _Boring job but at least it won't turn her into a dango-addicted maniac who walks around in just mesh._

The girl's distaste was almost touchable.

"Alright. Then how about the Mis-"

"Spying?" Inoichi interrupted him. Ibiki was about to spin around and glare when Ryuya's sapphire blue eyes went wide.

"Could I do that?"

 _Damn those eyes._

Ibiki sighed and nodded. The girl was gone in her fantasy. A fantasy they would have to beat out of her soon enough.

 _But it might work. She can easily pose as a maid or nanny, or even as a student. No one will suspect her to be a spy, much less a shinobi._

Glad that this problem was solved, he faced the last one. Chi was looking at him with expectant eyes.

"You have to get out of my office."

She nearly face vaulted. Shinji snorted, Ryuya was still dreaming.

"Why?!" She cried, her chakra flaring and making a Hyuuga behind his desk scream in pain. She flinched, apologized and then turned back to her sensei.

"Because you are wasted here."

"I- What?" She stared at him but the confused puppy dog eye effect was lost on Ibiki. _This is one hell of a gamble._

"I spoke with the other sensei's and they all agreed to let you work with them for a while."

"Why am I the only one who can't choose?!"

 _Of course that's the only part she focuses on._

"Because you are the only one with the potential to level this building to the ground, if you're not careful enough."

 _Silence huh. She didn't realize that._

"You are more fit to be in an assault squad."

 _Why isn't she anyway? She could have been in Team 7 and I could have had that Haruno kid. Would have been a much greater solution, but noooo Danzo had to take 'precautions'._

"But alas you are here with me in an unspecified squad. That's why I am sending you out. You will be Team 11's front fighter. Besides doing missions with your team and the other teams, I will also be assigning you to solo missions."

 _Sorry kid. I know you don't want to become an ANBU, but right now I really need you to work with me._

Chi's eyes narrowed and Ibiki caught himself growing nervous when they flared yellow. He had little experience with her clan in the past. None of them were people he had ever wanted to have lunch with. Or meet in a dark alley.

"You won't become an ANBU. You are no genius to join this early anyway." _That's not a complete lie. You are damn useful, but no genius._

"Promise?"

Ibiki looked her straight in the open eyes and felt his heart clench. They were under his supervision for a month already and he quite liked them and their loyal personalities. Having to make fake promises wasn't something that came easy to him now. He jerked his head to a stack of timetables on the table next to them.

"Go get your training schedule, you start next week. Shinji and Ryuya follow me."

He turned on his heels and stalked out of the room, fully aware of Chi's eyes on his back. The girl was still frozen in place when her teammates walked past her, sending her worried glances.

Shikaku's napkin flew in the air when he hear a loud crack. Chi blurred and left, her timetable gone from the stack and a large hole in the floor on the spot where she had been standing. He sighed, coffee still dripping down his hair. Inoichi bit his lip.

 _This is too troublesome._


	7. Troublesome

Asuma was seriously doubting his decision from a week ago. When he looked at the four students in front of him he felt awkward. He could only imagine how it must be for the new girl.

"Right so. We did our introductions." _More like muttered our name and hobby without sounding too interested._ He glared at Shikamaru.

 _Squealed about hair and flowers and boys._ Ino was his next victim.

 _Kept munching on chips but had a decent tone and friendly attitude. Choji my dear student, I thank you._

 _Had to clear her throat three times and stuttered her name._ He could forgive Chi. She had gotten used to the gray walls and cold demeanor of the surroundings. To be here in the open with just a team must be strange. _Poor kid._

Her arm twitched slightly and her other hand went to keep it still. Something shone from underneath her sleeve. Asuma's inner mother hen jumped awake.

 _Was she hungry? Or tired? What kind of training does she have to do? Is this the result of their test? I need to talk to Ibiki about this stuff if this becomes a thing. What if I push her too hard and she faints? Well, she probably has more than enough chakra so she won't faint that easily but still. Should I give her some of my blood? How do I do that?!_

Asuma shot the damn chicken.

He smiled broadly "Now, you have all trained this morning so let's go get a mission!"

As expected, all four groaned. Asuma grinned and lead the way to the mission desk where it turned out that their despair was well placed.

"SPREADING MANURE?!"

Ino shrieked and made everyone in a ten meter radius wince. Well, it was their fate for today and they had to abide it. _One can not simply defy fate._

In the distance a young Hyuuga sneezed and got youthfully blessed by two green beasts.

They had to leave the village and the entire trip took nearly half and hour. The weather was nice and all but their moods turned more sour every passing second. When they arrived on the farm, all four looked ready to storm off. The farm consisted of three ramshackle constructions made of moldy wood. To the left, there was a field that didn't look like it would be able to grow anything. Just in front of the fence on the far left corner, laid their working material.

The amount of manure was staggering and the smell made them scramble around Asuma to catch some of his cigarette smell.

"Ahh, sensei's smell is much better than that!" Ino snuggled closer to his vest.

The sensei wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or not. Probably not.

"Well then. Let's meet the owner and get started." He cheerfully lit another cigarette, wondered if he should be worried that the kids sighed in relief, and walked to the shed.

The farmer turned out to be a grumpy, wrinkled old man who smoked a huge pipe. He noticed Asuma walking up to him and waggled over to meet him halfway.

"Spread the manure over the entire field and make sure that you spread it evenly!" He spit on the ground and turned away, deeming more words unnecessary. The shinobi mutely watched him stagger back to the shed on bony legs, bouncing up and down over the uneven ground. Asuma turned to the kids to make a joke but he found them with their jaws open.

"He has a glorious chicken butt." Ino whispered and the other Genin nodded in awed silence.

 _What._

Asuma coughed and pushed them to the field.

"Off you go now, make me proud." He smirked and went to sit in a tree far away from the stench to smoke.

 _I am so glad that I'm a sensei now._

From the distance he could see Shikamaru scratch his head and scan the surroundings, the rest was busy complaining. Then he interrupted the fervent wails of despair from his team and made quick work of explaining his strategy. Chi perked up and added something and the black haired boy nodded thoughtfully. They spoke for another while, Choji put his snack away, and then got to work.

Asuma watched in content, though he had to scoff when thirty clones appeared.

Chouji appeared from behind the mountain of manure with two wheelbarrows that looked about as useful as a bucket without a bottom. Ino slapped her forehead and Shikamaru shook his head, no doubt muttering something with 'troublesome'. He turned to Chi. Two seconds later, the normally calm girl let out a yelp and tried to run away.

Too bad her shadow was already caught.

Asuma could hear Ino shout some promise about soap and flowers but only understood when ten clones transformed themselves in proper wheelbarrows. He could only pray for her soul and dignity.

Choji rummaged in his backpack and pulled out what looked like small trash bags. He made a seal and his body doubled in size. It turned out that the bags were gloves. With his giant fists, he grabbed two handfuls of manure and dropped them in two transformed wheelbarrows. Another clone grabbed the device and started going towards the field. The rest lined up and did the same.

Once they had arrived, Shikamaru climbed on the only decent looking pole from the fence and started shouting directions. The ten remaining clones started throwing out the manure on their designated positions. Ino went to every one of them and made sure that it was even and pressed down correctly.

 _Now this is a proper showcase of technique. Good teamwork, excellent plan, great use of each other's skills and a perfectly executed mission._ Asuma nodded approvingly.

The transformed wheelbarrows changed back and immediately dispersed together with the other clones. Chi cried out and nearly fell over from exertion and most likely the memories. Choji patted her on her back and offered a chip.

It was all because of the genius brain of the Nara being used which was because a certain mother had threatened to make her son caretaker of the famed Nara deers. Still, Asuma giggled like a child.

 _I am so going to shove this in Kakashi's face. His brat can make hundredths of Shadow Clones and he doesn't even use them to their full extent._

He continued grinning like a madman when they reported to the farmer and even on the way to Konoha. All the kids gave him a wide berth. At the gate he was stopped by Izumo and Kotetsu but they let him pass as soon as they realized his mood. He decided to ignore the pitying looks they gave his students.

Once they reached the Hokage tower, he gave his report with a shining smile, reassured his father and Iruka that he was not taking after Gai ( _"Look, no spandex!"_ ) and left to treat his team to dinner. He had a great story to tell tonight.

The town was packing up and getting ready for the evening. The kids were darting about, Chi was still traumatized and Ino had taken to comforting her. Looking at the backs of the small shinobi he felt his heart swell.

 _You kids make me so happy._

 _In the restaurant~_

"You kids make me so poor."

Ino rolled her eyes and continued discussing various flower types with Chi. Shikamaru was half asleep and Choji drooled at the thought of meat. Asuma could only think of his wallet that was soon going to be emptied. It couldn't be normal right? For a bunch of twelve year olds who reached just above his waist to eat more than he did?

Iruka had told him about how Naruto effortlessly shoved six large bowls of ramen down and could still go on, but _he_ had a giant fox living inside his stomach. These kids had no such thing!

"Your order please." A kind voice called out his doom.

As the kids called their orders ( _and Choji just_ _went on and on and on_ ) Asuma decided that a diet along with their training regime wouldn't hurt. He sighed and looked at them again. He wanted to get grumpy but he couldn't. Somewhere deep down he felt nostalgia come up.

How often had he not been in their position? Tired, dirty and starving. He had always looked forward to the end of the day when they were free. That was the best part and not just because he could go home. After a terribly boring C-rank his sensei would make up by buying ice cream or dinner. He'd always complain that they would ruin him one day. Asuma had always thought that the man meant it and that taking them out was simply part of the job, but now... Now he knew and felt the same way.

His sensei died in the war, shortly after Asuma became a Chuunin. He never found out about it and it was a painful memory even now. He clenched his fist under the table. _These kids are not going to die before me and I will not die until I see them become Jonin at least!_

It was false hope, he knew that very well. But hey, a man can dream!

He smiled fondly when the food arrived and all four dug in. He slowly started eating as well and listened to whatever they were saying. The discussions varied from today's strategy to the old lady with bright green hair that always shooed them away when they came too close. The tempo in which the subjects were changed was quite impressive.

All in all, today was a pleasant day and Asuma was happy to see the pleased smiles on their faces. He remained happy until the waiter came to him and handed him the bill.

Asuma was no longer happy.

 _Some time later~_

It was nearing nine o'clock in the evening when they walked out of the restaurant and a cloaked figure with a porcelain mask flashed in front of them. Asuma's senses went on full alert. Behind him, his three students had tensed. Chi frowned but sighed when the ANBU signaled at her. Asuma calmed down a bit but still couldn't help fingering his trench knifes in his pocket. The cold metal gave him a sense of assurance.

Meanwhile the signed discussion was going at a steady pace until Chi apparently messed up and gave up.

"Tell the man I'll be there in a minute." She grumbled but the ANBU shook his head. Before any could react, he had Chi flung over his shoulder and- ignoring her protests- nodded at Asuma before flickering away.

"Damn Black Ops." He growled and looked at his team. All three were looking nervous to various degrees. He sighed and ushered them.

"I'll walk you guys home. Don't worry, Chi probably just had a meeting with her sensei."

 _It better be that. Damn Ibiki with his methods. Couldn't he just pick her up?_

He lit a cigarette and walked with his students in front of him. He had a lot of fellow Jonin to talk to.

Ibiki, meanwhile, was waiting for a certain Genin to show up so that he could talk to her. After last week's drama (Inoichi's words) he had been unable to get more than two words out of Chi. She just went about her chores and training without so much as a weary smile. She didn't even react when he told her about the intruder near her compound. (That intruder was still held captive due to the Hokage's orders.)

Inoichi had send some meaningful glances his way that did nothing to help him. He knew that it was his fault and it stung.

The girl really hated ANBU for some unknown reason. Unfortunately she had already been picked to get enrolled in the program in case Danzo's plan to incapacitate her would fail.

" _What better place to polish a weapon?"_

Ibiki cursed the man. The Hokage had managed to keep Naruto away from him but the annoying man had brought too many arguments for Chi. They were all lucky that he didn't take her straight out of the Academy.

A spike of chakra alerted him. The masked ANBU walked in the empty office with a figure over his shoulder. He had a vague feeling that sending an ANBU after her was a bad move but if he went it might have been worse. Ibiki cocked his eyebrow and the man just signed 'It was easier this way.'

"I hope you told the Jonin who was with her today."

"..."

He sighed in defeat. For elite shinobi they lacked some serious tact.

"Put her down and leave."

Without much elegance the girl landed on the chair in front of Ibiki. Her yellow haori looked discolored under the pale light. She scowled and fixed her clothes. One of her sleeves rode up and the protective brace around her wrist became visible. The rings around her fingers reflected some light on the floor. She had chakra conducting braces around her entire body, fastened around the mesh armor for both support and to the restrain the spasms.

Ibiki felt a weight settle on his shoulders.

"Chi."

"Sensei." Her eyes were dark and nothing showed that she had forgiven him. "I will bring my report tomorrow."

Ibiki waved it away tiredly "No need. I'll just read your group report."

A tense silence fell. Jonin and Genin simply avoided each other's gazes. Ibiki managed to keep his posture straight but he saw her hands wringing the hem of her clothes.

 _Of course she would be nervous. She's just a kid._

"ANBU were always there."

He looked up with a slight shock. He had not expected her to speak first. Her voice was devoid of emotion but he could almost feel the trembling of her body.

"They saw everything and never did a thing. Not just me. Naruto suffered so much and not once did the try to help him. Not even when he got beaten or threatened!"

Her eyes faced him with a feint shimmering. The color was still muddy.

Ibiki's features softened a bit. _So it is about her friend huh? I can understand. This is not how that person's legacy should have grown up._

"I am not aware of this, but I can tell you that I cannot approve of their behavior. Yet, every ANBU can react the way they want to. It is not like you will have to do the same."

Chi's eyes became bright and her hands became fists. "They watched. Watched as a child got beaten. Watched as the villagers discriminated him. Watched as the Uchiha's were slaughtered. Watched as my clan was murdered. How can you tell me those were not orders?!"

Ibiki's could feel the blood drain from his face as her voice grew louder. Tears threatened to fall down her eyes.

"How can you tell me that, sensei?" Her voice was soft and shaking, very unlike her usual demeanor. A silver droplet made its way down her cheek.

 _Ah. What a sensei I am._

He got up and put his hand on her head. "Forgive me, Chi."

The girl froze but he was gone before she could say anything in return.

He reappeared in the usual bar, face downcast and eyes sombre. Even as he looked at how Gai and Anko tested their pain tolerance with dango picks, he felt sullen. His eyes scanned the crowd but he could not find the Academy teacher. Probably busy with work.

"Do you plan to go in or not?"

Kakashi's voice woke him up. The single eye studied him briefly before he focused on his orange book. He turned around and walked the night back in, waiting in front of the entrance.

 _I'm getting too easy to read._

Ibiki followed and together they walked in silence for a while. Kakashi didn't seem hurried to speak and simply kept walking. It was comfortable and gave him time to prepare his words. It was to no avail because once he tried to speak everything got jumbled up anyway.

"He wants her. In the ANBU, I mean. She hates them, doesn't your kid too? Uzumaki I mean." _Smooth._

Kakashi silently flipped a page with his thumb before he spoke "Hmm, I don't think Naruto can hate anyone. No matter how hurt he gets, he can never hate them."

It was clear to both who 'them' was.

"She told me she hated them because they won't do anything without an order. Anything to help."

Kakashi hummed and nodded, putting his book away. "Yeah. Unfortunately, that is true. ANBU are trained machines that only follow instructions."

Somehow that image did not fit Kakashi, Ibiki thought. _Especially the 'follow instructions' bit._

"Did you join willingly?"

"Something like that." The copy cat stopped at looked at Ibiki. "My friends talked to the Hokage and got me out of it. I have no doubt that her friends will do the same."

"What do you mean? Should I get her in?" Ibiki felt the weight grow heavier.

Kakashi's eye curved slightly "I am just saying that since her friends are quite stubborn, it would be a wasted effort."

 _Near a shabby apartment complex in Konoha~_

A blond mop peeked over the trashcan. There were a couple of drunk men in front of the door. Naruto hid in the opposite alley, waiting until they were gone. When he was a kid, he was often found because he sneezed or hit something. Him being a Genin assured him of his invisibility. And it was a good thing, he found. The men had brought bats with them and he was pretty sure that they weren't throwing those broken bottles away, not it the trash at least.

A familiar dullness came over him and for once he did not try to shake it off. After all, he was alone now. No need to smile when he didn't want to. He sunk against the dirty wall, barely missing a suspicious, dark puddle. His head hurt. Not because he was hit or something. It simply hurt because it could. Just like his chest felt tight at times. It just happened.

Naruto pulled out a kunai and started scratching the rust off with his nails. Kakashi had looked at them once during training and told him to get better once. When he explained that he couldn't, the man had given his own as a replacement during training. His kunai was dark and shining, sharpened to a point where Naruto was sure that staring was enough to get cut. He had treated it with utmost care.

A small prick announced the tiny cut on his finger. A drop of blood appeared. Naruto wiped it clean on his pants. The wound was gone.

He swallowed to get rid of the lump in his throat but he failed. _I want to see Iruka-sensei or Jiji. But would they want that too?_

The cleaned spot on his kunai reflected his blue eyes. Even in the night they were clearly visible. Naruto looked at them. They were lifeless, he thought. Lifeless and made of glass.

 _If only they shattered._

Yes, the blond Uzumaki was envious of blind people. At least they didn't have to see all those eyes. They could still hear though. But being both blind and deaf sounded scary and if he had to choose, then he'd choose blindness. Perhaps then his nightmares would become invisible as well.

A dog howled in the near distance and, ninja or not, Naruto shrunk. He was bound to be found if they used a dog.

He tried to cover himself but much to his horror, a finger tapped on his arm. He never heard the person close in on him!

Preparing to get hurt, he didn't dare to peek at the figure looming over him. He squeezed himself in his corner and prayed for a miracle.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto, right?" A rough, lady voice whispered. He opened his eyes. A huge dog appeared next to her, a single eye drilling into his. Naruto was stunned and too frozen to react.

When the lady moved, his stupor was broken and he flinched. The woman stopped and a sigh escaped her.

"You don't have to worry about me hitting' ya. I am not like those empty headed bastards." She scowled at the drunkards who were still waiting for him.

Naruto was still in shock. The lady looked at him and suddenly moved. Within seconds Naruto was seated on the back of the huge dog.

"I can't leave a kid here out on the street, right? Wouldn't do much good for my conscience." She didn't look at him and jumped up a roof with the dog following. In surprise, Naruto clutched the thick fur tightly.

"Careful kid. Can't have you pulling my hair out." A deep graveling voice resounded from underneath him and Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin.

"YOU! You can talk?!" His eyes grew huge.

"Speak softer and don't pull." The voice replied.

Naruto hurriedly relaxed his grip and almost toppled off. He then settled for an awkward back hug and tried to ignore the chuckles from the lady.

Only when they arrived at the Inazuka clan compound, did he realize how lucky he was. He jumped down and bowed clumsily.

"Haii! I am sorry to trouble you! Eeh, thank you a-and I'll try to be a good guest and stuff..." He trailed off.

The lady looked at him for few seconds and then burst out laughing. It was a warm laugh, loud and uncaring.

"You're a funny one. I'm Inazuka Tsume, Kiba is my brat." She turned to a large house and gestured for him to follow her. "Come on. I'll get you some dinner and a futon. You can sleep with Kiba, he won't mind."

She flashed a feral grin and walked ahead of him. Kuromaru nudged his back and walked to a separate entrance, disappearing in the shadows.

Naruto's cheeks flushed but he followed Tsume suit. His mind was in jumbles and he felt his eyes burn for some reason. Tsume was the miracle he hoped for, ironically when she approached him.

The house was warm and smelled like fur. It was nice, he thought. He kicked his sandals off and walked in. He managed two or three steps before he was tackled by a brown and white blur. "

The air was knocked out of him, leaving him gasping. Naruto pushed whatever it was off him and jumped up, ready to fight anyone. Kiba looked at him from the ground, his teeth bared in a grin. Naruto looked at him for a second and launched himself on top of the boy without a warning. Akamaru barked from the side while the boys wrestled.

Tsume walked back to the hall and stood still to watch them for a while. Then she decided that it was enough and hit both on the head. As the kids fell apart and rubbed their heads, she looked at the skinny boy.

 _Kiba's eyes were narrowed, almost as if he was expecting a villain to pop out of nowhere. Tsume walked up to him and flicked his head._

" _What's gotten in your pants?"_

" _Mom!" He growled and rubbed the sore spot. His annoyance was short lived however as a dark cloud washed over his eyes again._

" _You know that restaurant we always go to?"_

" _Hmm, Akamichi owned and very nice beef?"_

 _"Yeah, that one." Kiba sighed. "We went there with the class, you know, everyone who passed. At first I didn't notice but then I saw Naruto trying to hide from the owners. He even made Shikamaru order for him and hid under the table! And then he told us some lame excuse about a prank he obviously never played. As if he was scared they might kick him out or something!"_

 _Tsume looked at her son sadly. She didn't hate the blond. She was fully aware of the sacrifice he was and could only pity him. Kuromaru stretched and walked away, his tail down. Akamaru was confused but followed the older dog._

" _The kid must have had a good reason."_

 _Kiba gave her a sharp look, as if to demand an explanation. Tsume sighed and shook her head._

" _Say, you can always invite him here, ya know? He and his team took some of the dogs for a walk. I don't think I ever saw the old Buromaru that energetic before."_

 _Kiba grinned "Yeah, I hear that he dragged Naruto in a minefield."_

 _Tsume smirked and ruffled her son's hair. "Dinner's ready."_

"HA! I totally got you!" Said son shouted and paraded in their living room. It was a large room with a comfortable couch and wooded furniture. Naruto saw many framed pictures on the wall, all of the family.

 _It's nice._

"Oi Blondie!"

He looked up with a start. Tsume waved a spoon at him from a different door opening. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Ehh..."

"Thought so. I'll make you some ramen. You like that?"

Naruto's entire face lit up "You bet I like that! It's the best food in the world'ttebayo!"

Tsume grinned "Well then gimme a couple of minutes and then you can dig in." She left and the blond let a large smile split his face.

"Your mom is awesome'ttebayo!"

Kiba shrugged "She can be pretty tough too."

An idea popped in his head. He grinned widely "You wanna meet Buromaru?"

"Who?"

Kiba's eyes twinkeled "Wait and see." He grabbed the orange clad arm and ran out of the room. They ran through a long hallway with many doors. Kiba ran to the second to last one and opened it.

"Oi Buromaru! Guess who's back!" Without any mercy, he pushed Naruto inside and closed the door. Kiba pressed his ear against the door and listened.

A confused howl sounded but it quickly changed in excited barking.

Naruto just screamed very loudly.


	8. Ramen with a drop of salt

It was nice and cool for a change. The sun was mostly hidden behind the clouds and a fresh breeze relieved the shinobi and civilians alike. If one would want to take a walk, one could walk all the way to the edge of the town and to the training grounds. There, one would find many teams practicing under the guidance of an elder shinobi. One could sit and marvel about the speed and power the children displayed, or one could feel grateful for having a regular (and safe) job.

On this particular day, Team 11 had also set out to practice outside. Their teacher, Morino Ibiki, had managed to shove his work onto his second in command and had taken his students outside for some regular training. He had some discussions with not only his colleagues, but also with the Hokage and decided that he needed more bonding time with his team.

His team, three twelve year old girls, were all excited about finally training with him. Admittedly, only two looked happy, but the third had trained with another team before. And she was still pretty mad at him.

After a warm up exercise that was meant for ANBU (Ibiki found it hard to imagine being a child again), they started discussing.

Chi was subdued and kept quiet for most of the time but neither one of her teammates commented on that. Her sensei occasionally send her a look but she did not look at him either. Ibiki sighed and looked at the other girls again.

"Ne sensei?" Ryuya piped up, her eyes wide and adorable.

Happy for the distraction, Ibiki looked at her "Yes?"

"Cat-san, taught me a genjutsu but I don't have the chakra to keep it up for long, or to make it stronger. It is supposed to change the weather around the enemy but the fog I want to create isn't dense enough."

Ibiki nodded, he already predicted the problem. "That is because you don't have the right amount of chakra."

He looked at the brunette in the middle "It seems that for now only Chi has enough chakra for the more advanced jutsu's." _More than enough, she can even use kinjutsu. Very unlike her teammates who can just perform C-rank genjutsu's. Though I might have to teach Shinji some more specified jutsu..._

Shinji frowned as if she wanted to ask him why he was facing her while talking about the other girl. He looked away.

"Sensei?" Again Ryuya offered relief. "Is it possible to transfer chakra?"

Ibiki had a feeling where this was going, but he played along. "Hmm, yes but it can be dangerous. Medics are known to do such things but other than that... It could give you chakra poisoning."

"I can do it."

The collected voice reminded him of the incredible weight on his shoulders. Ibiki looked at the tall girl. Chi was playing with the grass.

"My clan's most famous technique relies on exchanging chakra with people whose blood we've drank." Her eyes flitted over them "I can use your blood inside of my body to extract chakra from you, but I can also give you chakra."

"So, if you give us your chakra, we can perform more difficult jutsu too?" Shinji's eyes were narrowed but her lips were curled.

"I never tried it before, though." Chi mumbled, but it fell to deaf ears.

Ibiki watched and then stood up. "Let's put it into work then."

He clapped his hands. "Ryuya, perform the genjutsu once and then have Chi give you chakra and perform it again."

Shinji grinned, her smile slightly distorted by the scar on her cheek, and went to pull her short friend up. Ryuya smiled too and fixed the thick bandages around her wrists, determination settling in her eyes. With a hint ( _a slight one_ , he swore) of pride, he noticed how much they looked like proper shinobi now. Their attire had finally graduated from frilly dresses and cute shirts.

Ibiki had a distinct feeling that meeting Minji had changed Shinji's perspective on what 'nice' clothing was. She had taken to wearing dark, formfitting one piece suits with her family's crest largely displayed on her back. It was a blue and white circle with black streaks that, according to her, formed the mountains the Lee family originated from. Ibiki thought that it made an excellent target to aim for. The next day, she showed up with a black Jinbaori (sleeveless haori) to cover it up.

Minji had looked at the outfit once before storming inside his office and demanding an explanation as to why the girl she _tortured_ was copying her. Ibiki merely shrugged and told her about how Shinji thought that she was very cool. Minji looked like she had bitten in a lemon.

Ryuya wore the navy Konoha uniform, minus the jacket as she hadn't earned it yet. She had replaced it with a gray body warmer. Ibiki watched as she tied her hair back, the elbow protectors showing through the fabric.

No one could tell from the outside, but her clothes were reinforced to support her weak( _we_ _akened,_ he reminded himself) body and the body warmer was designed by the same manufacturer that made the ANBU uniforms. In other words, the tiny girl wore an armor that would take many point blanc shots for it to be penetrated.

Chi still wore her mesh and haori with matching shorts that weren't even visible from underneath the haori. He really wanted her to wear something longer, but he never said it out loud. Instead he had taken to glaring at anyone who looked at her legs too long (read: longer than two seconds). He didn't think she knew that.

Shikaku and Anko did and had found great pleasure in teasing him about his 'over-protectiveness'. Ibiki had no idea what they were talking about. He was simply doing his duty as a teacher to keep his _twelve year old_ student away from perverts. Inoichi understood.

Something Ibiki would like to see with all uniforms was the lack of visible weapons. Chi no longer wore a weapon pouch and instead had a storage seal engraved in the armor on her thigh. Saved space and was a nice element of surprise in a battle.

The braces around her legs, hands and neck were visible to everyone and he did not have the heart (or courage) to ask her why. Her constant twitching was enough reminder.

Ryuya stood in front of him, a good five meters away. Shinji was standing next to him, completely focused. Chi looked bored but her eyes were trained on the back of the small girl. Seals were formed and the jutsu began.

A white haze started rising up. It surrounded them and made the view very blurry. He could feel the chakra spike from her but knew that it was not enough. Before long, the haze grew thicker but it never obstructed the view completely.

 _I figured as much. She really has poor chakra reserves. Not to mention that many of her chakra points are damaged._

"Alright." He dispersed the genjutsu and looked at the girls. "Time to add some extra chakra."

Ryuya looked disappointed but recovered quick. Chi lazily stood up and strode to her friend.

 _Ryuya only reaches to her shoulders,_ Ibiki suddenly realized.

Chi put her hands on her shoulders and muttered something in her ear. Ryuya thought for a while but frowned. Chi looked at her and then took a breath.

"Sensei, should I try it with direct contact? I am not sure if it hurts or not and it's easier up close."

Ibiki was secretly very relieved that the girl at least addressed him with 'sensei'. "Keep your hands there. This is only the first time, keep it easy."

She nodded and turned her attention back. "Use as much chakra as you like, but you will have to shape it. I am no good at genjutsu."

Nodding, Ryuya formed the seals again and all of a sudden chakra washed over them. Shinji drew a sharp breath next to him and Ibiki couldn't blame her. The chakra was pure, dense and heavy, coated in something cold and burning at the same time.

Their surroundings grew white and soon there was nothing else to see. The fog had grown so thick that it almost looked like a cotton ball. It was cold too, and slightly wet. Ibiki marveled at the details. _Cat must have spend a lot of time working on perfecting the jutsu with Ryuya._

He could not hear any birds anymore and even the wind had seized. The chakra was still there but it only added to the ominous atmosphere.

"Good job." He called out. _This is a drastic difference. Does Chi really have that much chakra?_

The fog cleared and showed the two girls in the same position. Ryuya looked shaken, probably because of the sudden surge of chakra. Chi didn't look any different, other than rubbing her hands together and taking a deep, steadying breath. Nothing else showed that she had just thrown half of the reserves of a decent Chuunin in her teammate. 

_Madness. And that Uzumaki has even more._

Shinji cheered and ran to them.

 _I have to make use of that, otherwise I'll just waste her potential. But how? Perhaps Kakashi would know some jutsu. He is a ninjutsu specialist after all._

"Oi, Chi."

Said girl froze and looked at him. He walked closer to them and looked straight at her. There was something in her eyes, something he had not seen in these past days.

"You have training with Team 7 next week, right?"

That something died. Ibiki felt the weight grow heavier.

"I do." He voice was soft and dejected. Ibiki decided to push through.

"Their sensei is Hatake Kakashi. You read his file right? He is a ninjutsu specialist and former ANBU captain. Ask him to teach you some jutsu." _Perhaps I should have left the bit about the ANBU out._

"Alright, I will."

 _Why is Shinji scowling and why is Ryuya looking at me like that?_

He was at a loss.

"Alright, time for some sparring." And with that, the training continued, although he had a feeling that Shinji was coming at him more ferociously than before.

 _What am I supposed to do with them?_

He resolved to get some advice from Kurenai that evening.

 _In the evening~_

A fine day in Konoha had come to an end. Genin were dismissed or reporting to the Mission desk, the streets were bustling and the restaurants welcomed their guests. One particular shop had one very familiar customer and his friend inside. It was a nice and cozy location with one voice calling out the same thing every ten minutes.

"One more!"

"Sure thing!"

Naruto cheered, Chi shoved more noodles down, all the while muttering under her breath. Her mood had been really down as of late and her friend decided that it could no longer go on like that. So, when he spotted her strolling down the streets with a dark cloud over her head, he grabbed her wrist and all but kidnapped her to his favorite place.

"What?" Naruto stared at her in confusion and reached for a napkin over her bowl. Chi slapped his hand away and swallowed her (larger than healthy) bite.

"Nothing."

He leaned over until his nose was almost in her ear "Liar."

Chi shivered and pushed him away. "Fine! I'm mad at Ibiki-sensei."

Naruto sat down again and looked at her "How come?"

Chi paused in her movements "He's just... I want a really nice sensei, not one who keeps trying to lure me in an underground job. I really don't want to do that."

To an adult (or a more mature teen) this might have sound highly suspicious and they might have demanded for her sensei to explain himself. As it was, Naruto and Chi were twelve year old and orphans from a young age, and thus they still believed that babies grew in cabbages. Neither paid attention to the choking noises of the customer next to them, nor to the twitch in Ayame's eyebrow.

Teuchi decided to start chopping the vegetables before his daughter could grab the huge knife and go on a rampage.

"Why?" A new bowl was placed under his nose and the blond dug in after asking.

"Don't know. All I know is that all the others have nice sensei's and mine hardly cares. He even tries to push me on other sensei's."

Naruto thought, his sensei was an insensitive jerk who hardly paid any attention to them, but he liked him.

"I'm sure he's not so bad. I mean Kakashi-sensei is pretty distant and we hardly know anything about him, but he's cool. A bit of a sadist though." He added as an afterthought.

"You know I want to be a Jonin sensei too, right?" Chi poked her ramen.

"Yeah! You are going to be the most awesome teacher ever'ttebayo! And I am going to become the greatest Hokage and then I can give you cool missions!" Naruto exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Chi ignored him in favor of a serious conversation. Once you get hyped by Naruto it becomes a downwards spiral.

"Hmm, I want to become the type of teacher that really gets involved with the students. You know, one that the students can take comfort in, like a big sister. I want to be like that."

"That's really nice of you, Chi-chan." Naruto replied honestly. _Chi would be like Iruka-sensei then._

"Can you take comfort in Kakashi-sensei?" Her voice was empty. Her chopsticks stirred the noodles in her bowl but made no move to grab them.

The sudden question left him struck with doubt. _Can I?_

"I dunno. Kakashi-sensei is a real bastard at times." He received a reprimanding thwack on his head. "Hey! It's true, you know. He just keeps reading his orange book (another twitch from Ayame) and hardly teaches us anything cool!"

Chi sighed "I was doing a D-rank with Asuma-sensei and his team, and he seemed to really like his students. He kept smiling and ruffled their hair and complimented them."

She looked at her friend "Even Shikamaru listened to him!"

"That's impressive." Naruto admitted. He rubbed his chest and took another mouthful of ramen.

"You tell me. Why can't our sensei's be like that?"

Chi seemed genuinely upset. He noted her chopsticks falling out of her hand after an odd twitch. She quickly picked them up again but even he could see the tense tendons trying to keep her fingers still.

She had taken to wearing steel braces with rings around each finger that were connected to her wrist by chains. It helped her pack a punch, she told him.

He had trouble believing that was the sole reason.

"Well, maybe our sensei's are just too shy." He uttered and received a doubtful glance from his side.

"The head of Torture and Interrogation and the man who copied over a thousand jutsu are shy?"

"Yea- A THOUSAND JUTSU?!" 

Chi winced and slapped a hand over his mouth. The other customers send them glares. She could understand.

"Didn't you know? Kakashi-sensei is famous. A genius according to his files at the office, he became a Jonin at our age."

Naruto gaped. "He is that awesome?"

Chi rolled her eyes and decided to keep the rest of the information a secret for his sensei to reveal. She wouldn't accidentally want to bring the wrath of a paranoid Elite Jonin on her back. Not even Anko risked it, and, seeing as she was the one who once gifted Ibiki an 'Icha Icha calender', Chi was sure that Kakashi would make her life a living Hell.

"Yes, he is pretty damn awesome." She replied dryly. Naruto's jaw was still open and she shut it with her chopsticks.

"You're going to catch a fly like that."

Naruto came back to his senses and turned to his meal. His eyes were still wide and sparkling and Chi just _knew_ that he was going to start admiring Kakashi like a superstar from now on. They ate in silence for a while, both distracted by their thoughts.

"Hey..."

"Hmm?" Chi signaled for another bowl.

"What happened to you guys?" _Why are you wearing rings and why is Ryuya always so tired and what happened to Shinji's face? What are you keeping from me and the other teams?_

"I can't tell you."

"...Liar."

She pushed him away again with a disgusted face. "Dude, you smell like fishcakes! Stay away!"

Naruto grinned and blew more air to her direction. "Not until you tell me."

"I told you I can't."

"..." There was no way that he was going to believe her.

"Fine, I don't _want_ to tell you."

"What?! Why?" His eyes were big. They always told each other everything.

 _Well, not everything..._ He thought with a hint of guilt. He really wasn't the one to talk.

Chi's eyes were grim and she looked away. "Because you shouldn't hear it."

"Is it bad? Did he do something? Should I beat him up?!" Naruto rolled his sleeves but only received a smack on his head.

A steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of Chi. She thanked the chef and took a large bite, apparently immune to the heat.

"As if you could beat a Jonin like him." She shook her head.

"Our test was very harsh. Like, it was too real. You saw Shinji and Ryuya right? They changed so much in just four days, I don't want you to change." She confessed.

Naruto gave her a long look before turning to his food again. "One day?"

Chi glanced at him "One day. Promise." It sounded like 'One day' was a long time.

 _Time to cheer her up._

"Say, why did you go with Shikamaru's team?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. Chi looked at him with a strange expression but quickly schooled it in a amused one.

"Why? Are you jealous?"

Naruto huffed "Of course not. But we are supposed to be best buddies so why aren't you joining my team?"

Chi rolled her eyes "Because my sensei told me so. He made me a schedule. Tomorrow I'm with Team 8 for training. I think I got your team for both training and a mission the week after that."

Naruto's eyes lit up and this time Chi smiled along with him. They ate in comfortable silence but neither admitted how they really felt.

That night, both friends walked to their homes alone. Naruto was the first to arrive and decided to go to bed immediately. The building was abandoned and he sighed in relief. He did not feel like spending the night outside and he couldn't just go and spend another night with Kiba and his family. They were nice and all, but it felt like he was intruding.

He got ready for the night and jumped in his pajama's. He didn't try to look in the mirror.

His apartment oozed solitude. No matter which side he turned, there wasn't so much as a fly to accompany him. The air felt cold and stiff. Naruto hid himself underneath the old blanket but his face was still bare. He didn't like covering his head, even when it was this cold. It clung to his skin and hair, the coldness seeped inside his ears and dulled the throbbing inside his head.

 _Should I like it?_

He was fairly sure that his breath was visible now. A shiver ran over his body. His body wasn't entirely cold, Naruto could feel something like a hot stone in his stomach.

 _Get away from me!_

He didn't want to feel it. He didn't want to acknowledge that a demon resided in him. That the monster who destroyed his hometown, lived inside his body. The feeling of heat inside of him had never been so prominent before, but ever since Mizuki told him about _it,_ Naruto's belly was constantly on fire. It scared him.

The first two days after he found out, he went without sleep. He was scared that the demon might jump out. He then asked the Hokage and he reassured him. Still, at night he could feel it stir and he dreamed of blood soaked streets, limp bodies and a monstrous roar that came from his own body. Sometimes he could see a familiar robe or hairstyle and he'd wake up screaming and crying. But in the end, it was all a dream.

The shadows on his wall were moving. A tree branch became a claw, his clock was smiling at him with its teeth bared, the laundry hanging from a line inside rose up. His imagination added monstrous faces and voices to the shapes. They were coming for him. They all whispered the same things. They all had _those_ eyes.

Naruto pulled the blanket over his head.

 _On the other side of Konoha~_

Chi wandered in the dark forest. On her way she had greeted several Nara clan members who just waved lazily or called out. Right now she was on her own. It was a large forest, with tall and robust trees. Chi had walked here ever since she was a small child. She was completely comfortable in the darkness. Or at least, she used to be.

Now her right hand was resting on her waistband, the empty sleeve waving behind. Inside her haori was a hidden pocket with her old and battered kyoketsu-shoge. She had been given the weapon on her third birthday but had not been taught how to use it. So, with hardly any children her age around, she spend most of her early childhood swinging the blade around and using it to grab food from tables. She never used it to kill before, only injure.

 _Although there is hardly any difference._

She pushed the bitter memories away and walked on. The dark wall rose in front of her. It was a majestic design, with curvy lines and carefully crafted ornaments draped all over the wood. It was tempting to stroke the smooth shapes and admire the intricate designs from up close, but Chi was no fool. She had survived up until now by resisting the urge to go closer.

The urge was always there, she suspected a genjutsu that was kept alive by one of her clan's seals. Chi tore her eyes away from a very beautiful cat-like shape that she definitely hadn't seen before, and scaled the wall. From afar it may look like a very impressive wall made of stone, but the truth was that it had been build in a time where the reputation of the Ketsueki had reached a new low.

No one came near them, shops hurriedly closed when they tried to enter. They were resigned to second handed material and sometimes even the trash. It showed, once you knew where to look for. The fence was about as thick as Chi's arm and made of poor quality bamboo. A Genin could kick it apart, if the traps were deactivated of course.

Finding out how her clan made it look so amazing would risk Chi's health and sanity so she never bothered. Instead she avoided the arsenal of traps and seals and entered the first house she found. It was always a different one. Again, because of the genjutsu and traps. It didn't matter even if you always entered through the main gate, you would always appear in a different place. The houses were the same: curved roofs and lanterns on every corner.

This time she was in the house of her handsome, genius cousin who was unfortunate enough to die the day after he got promoted to Jonin. She hardly ever went here anymore and this time, she used her newfound skill to walk on walls to enter through the window.

She always remembered her cousin when the fan girls in her class wooed over Sasuke. Compared to his tanned complexion, warm eyes and unruly hair, the Uchiha wasn't even close to good looking. His personality was miles off too. _He_ was sweet, always friendly and usually filled his pockets with candy and coins to treat kids. Uchiha was too busy feeling better than anyone else and at the same time feeling sorry for himself.

Her cousin, Kosuke was his name, would always babysit her and give her the largest peaches. She remembered her -then sane- mother complaining that he spoiled her but he just laughed and handed her some more of her favored fruit.

 _He was the best._

Chi reached for his picture on the small desk in the corner of his room, but stopped just in time. The frame was dusty, like the entire room was. Her finger hovered near the old fingerprints and she retracted her hand. Her cousin, along with his parents looked back at her, smiles frozen in the image. Chi looked at them. She had inherited a bit of her clan's insanity, she knew it.

 _That's why I'm waiting for the pictures to move and come to life._

She exhaled deeply and looked around. His room was just like that night. Footprints on the floor, bed messy, kunai and his Jonin vest laying in a corner, papers pushed off the desk in a hurry...

 _In a hurry to save his precious cousin._

Chi closed her eyes and opened them again. She went back to the window again and stepped on the painted frame. From here she could see the window to her own room. It was open like always, there wasn't anyone here anyway.


	9. Eyes from the past

"Naruto?"

The young eyes looked straight in his own. Kakashi found that no matter how different the shape was, the cerulean blue would always feel like a stab to his gut. Luckily, the eyes soon curved in small crescents, effectively saving Kakashi from more pain.

"Hehe, sorry sensei. I was spacing off."

"Hmm, indeed." Kakashi acknowledged "Care to tell me why?"

He already regretted asking when the eyes returned to their normal size. They were like deep, ever forgiving pools and he felt like drowning in them.

"It's nothing! I just... really admire you, sensei!"

Sakura looked up in surprise at the honest tone. Kakashi wanted to look away, but he could not.

 _Honestly, this is just cruel._

"Why is that?" He instead asked, now wondering what kind of things Naruto had found out about him. It wasn't as if he really minded but it was at least fair to know _what_ was known about him. For all he knew, and if he counted the amount of times that karma was on his side, the kid could have discovered some painful truths about him. _What if he found out about sensei?_

The boy grinned sheepishly and scratched his cheek. "No real reason. I just discovered how awesome you are'ttebayo!"

Kakashi felt his fear die out and instead exasperation came up " _How_ did you discover that?" _Tell me a reason, a story or a name!_

"I heard from Chi that, according to your file, you are a genius and used to be a captai-mmpff!"

 _Damn Ibiki. Letting kids read my file._ Kakashi pulled his hand off Naruto's lips. There was no need to say it out loud when there was a potential psychopath around them.

Sakura seemed doubtful, probably thinking of the many qualities of a Jonin he lacked. Sasuke's interest looked piqued. Just as Kakashi had feared.

"Maa, not that much." _Please don't become like those people._

"No but seriously! When did you become a Jonin, sensei?!" Naruto could no longer contain the stars in his eyes. He looked ready to ask for a picture and an autograph.

Kakashi internally groaned in despair "I got promoted on the field. We were in war back then."

"But how old?" Sakura piped up.

"...14 or something." _More like eleven and a half._

"Wow." Naruto's voice was laced with admiration. Sakura was more composed, but her eyes were wide. Sasuke was scowling again.

"Like I said, it was war time and a lot of people got promoted early. It is nothing special." _Please stop looking at me like that. Don't look at me in admiration with his eyes. God knows I don't deserve it._

"Still, your nickname is the man with a thousand jutsu!" Naruto bellowed.

 _Copied. They are copied._ Kakashi's eye scanned the awed expressions of all his students. Even Sasuke had a hint of shock on his face.

"That does not mean a thing." _Not when you are the last of your team and family._ "Now get going. You guys still have five laps to run before lunch. We will get a mission afterwards."

"I want to become Jonin too! I'll become one super fast and I'll definitely surpass you, 'Kashi-sensei! Believe it!" The blond declared in his usual (loud) fashion.

"Huh?" _What did you just call me?_

His question fell on to deaf ears as Naruto was already up and running at a speed no one could possibly keep up with unless they were an Uzumaki. Sakura send him a smile and started running too, already given up on asking Sasuke to join her and going at half the speed of her teammate. Sasuke looked at him for an uncomfortable amount of time before taking off as well.

Kakashi rubbed his eye and went to read in the shadow of a large tree. It was always best to distract yourself before the memories became too much.

 _During lunch~_

The boys were pretty much inhaling their food. Sakura took modest bites (he was glad to see her eat proper nutrients and protein) and he was already finished. It bugged him that neither one of the kids seemed openly curious about his unmasked face. They gave an occasional twitch and peek, but didn't really try like he had expected them to.

It made him nervous.

"Alright, once we're-"

A scream tore through the air. If it wasn't for his fine tuned senses, Kakashi would have shot up with a kunai ready. However, he was always alert on foreign chakra signatures and he could not detect a single one at the moment. He had sensed a huge chakra spike right before and thus he concluded that it must have been a Genin who was training too rigorously. His three students were on high alert, Naruto had already formed the seal for his shadow clones. The lunch boxes laid forgotten on the ground.

 _I should teach him on not revealing his trump cards so soon. And I have to teach them how to sense chakra._

 _Maa, I have so much work to do..._

"Calm down. It was from the training ground next to us. I highly doubt that it was an enemy shinobi."

They did not look any calmer. Kakashi sighed "Then how about we go there and you can see for yourself?"

His proposal was accepted and soon the team was on the move. The passed the forest and entered a field, all still very careful and tense.

In the end even Kakashi felt relieved that his instinct was correct. The scream had belonged to Hyuuga Hinata who was now being consoled by Kurenai. Chi stood there, calling out apologies and such. The kids relaxed. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his friend and shouted accusingly.

"Oi! What the hell did you do, bastard?!"

Chi did not look very surprised at their arrival, but huffed nonetheless "Shut up! I used too much chakra, that's all."

"How did that make Hinata scream?" He questioned.

Sakura looked at him "Hinata is a Hyuuga. They can see chakra with their eyes." _Duhh._

"That's right. It is one of Konoha's most praised dojutsu. Chi released a large amount of chakra before and it almost blinded her." Kurenai walked to them. Chi was flailing about while Hinata smiled gently and tried to calm her down.

Kakashi almost snorted. _Blinding a Byakugan. That is pretty impressive._ Kurenai glared at him as if she could read his mind. She probably could.

"I was trying to teach her a simple genjutsu, but she has too much chakra." She sighed. Kakashi could understand her pain. After all, he had a stamina monster in his team as well. _Since when did Ketsueki have such large reserves?_ He remembered a couple of them constantly having to drink blood to compensate for their weak endurance.

Team 10 gathered, the two remaining from the bushes with ten clones of Chi in tow, and they all decided to have some lunch together. Team 7 had forgotten their lunch at their training ground but Naruto created some clones to go and fetch them. They all plopped down on the ground and immediately, the Genin started chatting amongst themselves. The Jonin decided to go for a walk.

"So, what happened?" Kakashi questioned once they were out of hearing range. "I know she tried a genjutsu, but how did she mess it up?"

Kurenai send him a look that showed that she had already given up. "It's not that hard to understand and it can be helped but it is going to take a very long while and a dedicated teacher. She blows through massive amounts of chakra without realizing it and that is why she can't create a genjutsu."

Kakashi nodded "Naruto is the same. Too much chakra, no control."

"Oh, but she has some degree of control. It is just that she can not mold it enough to create an illusion."

"Hmm. What are you trying to teach her?"

"Demonic illusion: Hell viewing technique." She bit her lip. "I thought it might aid her in her natural abilities."

"Did you show her what it does?" Kakashi looked at his friend.

"I wanted to. I just didn't want to scare her more than Ibiki had done." She frowned.

"Hmm..." _I don't think the test was the scariest thing she had ever seen..._

"He asked me about her, you know." Kurenai shook her head "He has no clue how to treat those girls."

She glared at him pointedly. _And_ n _either do you._

Kakashi was very sure he heard that unsaid message. _I'm not that bad, am I?_

His mind wandered to the time where he made them walk on water. Sakura fell down at first and when she got back up and started walking on the water, her clothes were clinging to her body. It had been a warm day and she had worn a thin, pink dress. When it got wet, it became almost see-through.

He himself was a grown man and didn't even spare her a second glance, but Sasuke had turned away stiffly and Naruto blushed a deep shade of red. It was only when Sakura looked over at him to show how far she had gotten, that she realized the state of her teammates.

What followed was a thorough beating for Naruto, awkward mutterings to Sasuke and a torn up Icha Icha for him. Kakashi still didn't know how she managed to get her hands on it, but he blamed the female instinct to lash out where it hurt. He was actually glad that the boys reacted normally.

Boys as in Sasuke.

He had figured that, after achieving his _great_ goal of killing his brother, the Uchiha clan would die out anyway because the kid would never find girls interesting enough to bother with a romantic relationship. He probably didn't even know how babies were made.

 _You must give them the talk._ Iruka's voice cut through his mind.

Kakashi shuddered.

All in all, it turned out to be a good training with lasting results. Sakura practiced until she could spar comfortably on the water and that in turn encouraged the boys to get the technique done fast. She also started wearing some thicker clothes, though Kakashi found them unnecessary as she still lacked anything to actually hide. He didn't mention that out loud though.

"Forget it Kakashi, you are as socially capable as Gai."

The copy-cat nearly tripped over his feet. Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Isn't that too much?" _I mean, I am not wearing spandex._

"Nope." She stopped stared dead in his eyes. The red was unnerving, he found.

"Your students may admire you, but you forget that two of them are severely deprived of _love_." She pressed her finger against his chest and Kakashi couldn't help but expect her to stab him with it.

"Sasuke lost his family and thus a constant source of affection in his life. Naruto has no clue what those things are. You are supposed to be the rock for them to rely on. And don't you dare ignore the girl. She deserves attention too. Attention from someone who can understand the world of shinobi, not her civilian parents. "

"Mmm, I try." _I can't do it._

"No, you don't."

The conversation died out. Both Jonin had nothing left to say. Kurenai may have thought that her remark was offhanded and harsh, but she shrugged it off. She knew that Kakashi needed the kids as much as they needed him.

Together with Asuma and Gai, she had asked the Hokage to relief him of his ANBU-status. They had done it to save his kind personality from succumbing completely to the darkness. Now he has a chance to fill his life again and they sure as hell weren't letting him fail.

Before either realized it, they returned to the group of Genin. The kids were laying in the grass, occasionally Naruto would shout something and Kiba would retort. The rest couldn't be bothered. Neither failed to notice the peculiar glance Sakura would send Chi's way every now and then.

"Alright, time to get back to our training again." Kakashi clapped and saluted his colleague.

The genjutsu mistress nodded "Yes, we should get started again as well."

Naruto grumbled but got up anyway. Sakura looked at the female Jonin with a strange look of curiosity in her emerald eyes.

"Kurenai-sensei?"

Said lady turned to her and Kakashi had to admit that she looked a hell of a lot more child-friendly than he did. Sakura even managed to take the wordless cue and ask her, but Kakashi blamed it on the fact that Kurenai had her face uncovered while he only had one eye.

"Ehm, you are good with genjutsu, right?"

Kurenai smiled fondly "I'd like to believe that I am capable, yes."

Kakashi wanted to groan and tell Sakura that she was possibly the best genjutsu specialist in Konoha, but he felt small jolt in his foot. When he looked down, he saw a senbon sticking out of his toe. It was a tiny one, one that only a Jonin could control. He took the hint and remained impassive, hoping that none of the students had seen it. They probably hadn't.

"Eh, what do you need for genjutsu?"

"Well, you need some creativity and good chakra control."

 _Sakura has excellent chakra control, she could become the genjutsu specialist of Team 7,_ he automatically recalled from her file before the world seemed to stop. Kakashi felt like introducing his apparently thick skull to a tree, repeatedly. Why o why had he not thought of this? She had even been the one to create the illusion during the test.

 _Even better: a medic._

A brick wall sounded more reasonable now. He felt another jolt in his foot and this time a thicker senbon stuck out of his toe. He narrowed his eye and discovered the tiny tag that read 'poison'. He deserved it.

Sakura's eyes lit up but to her teacher's horror, she send him a short look. In that brief moment, he could see a ton of emotion flash in her eyes but only one remained above the others. His toe was numb.

 _Why does she feel guilty?_

"I tried genjutsu before, and I liked it. Could you perhaps teach me some more?" Sakura spoke quick and looked down at her sandals.

"Well, if it doesn't interfere with your own training. I would like to teach you about genjutsu." Kurenai gave him a look and he looked at his student. He couldn't feel his foot anymore.

"I think that's a great idea, as long as you combine it with our training." He gave her his trademark eye-smile and was glad to see the girl relax. He shifted his weight and tried to shake some life back in his limp leg.

Naruto grinned and threw his arm around his friend "That's awesome, Sakura-chan!" Of course he forgot to say that in his inside voice.

"You're too loud!" She cried and pushed him away. Naruto pouted and got laughed at by Kiba. Hinata shyly smiled at the blond. Shino and Sasuke stood in silence. Chi rubbed her head and gave a lopsided smile. The group dissolved in the friendly banter but, by then they had to separate again. Kakashi and Kurenai wordlessly agreed to talk about this at the bar and bid each other a good afternoon.

 _After_ Kakashi demanded that she gave him the antidote because he really couldn't supervise the kids paralyzed and what if there was an enemy on their path? She rolled her eyes at him and stabbed him again. This time in the softest part of his thigh where it hurt the most and Kakashi barely managed to keep from squeaking. His students never looked back to see it and only Hinata saw from the other team. She hid her smile behind her hands. Kakashi was mortified.

It was time to do some chores- Ahem, D-rank missions.

 _At the bar, that evening~_

"-and he just won't stop sleeping and I can't even defeat him in a match of shogi and he is just too damn smart-"

Kakashi awkwardly patted the back of his friend. Genma rolled his eyes (it became a common thing around him these days) and pushed his hand away. He took a hold of Asuma's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. The tall Jonin was still wailing and only stopped when Genma pushed a full jug of beer in his hand.

The copy cat rose his eyebrow. _So feeding someone drunk is allowed?_

Genma read his eye perfectly and responded accordingly: "Shut up."

Kakashi, insulted, turned away to his _other_ friends. The ladies were gathered in a corner with Kotetsu and Izumo, undoubtedly exchanging the latest gossip with each other. He could see Anko's eyes glittering and pitied the poor fellow they were talking about. In front of Kurenai was the schedule they had worked out for Sakura. He still couldn't believe his ignorance about that matter.

Gai was showing off his youthfulness to a drunk Ebisu and an uncomfortable Hayate. Kakashi didn't try to help. They had left him on his own against Gai way too often.

Ibiki was sulking in a corner.

 _This should be interesting._

He walked up to the man and plopped down on the chair opposite him. He saluted. "Yo."

Ibiki sighed "Hey."

"Trouble with the brats?"

The man's mood turned even darker "You have no idea."

Kakashi wasn't so sure. "Well, actua-"

"I just keep messing up!" Ibiki exclaimed and threw his hands up. It was then that Kakashi realized how strong the scent of alcohol was here. The head of T&I looked at him with glazed eyes.

"Maa, what happened?" _Why are you turning more into an alcoholic with each passing week?_

Ibiki lifted his glass to drink and shrugged at the same time. The liquid spilled over his hands. "No matter what I do, I always manage to hurt Chi and piss off Shinji." He didn't bother with the napkin Kakashi offered him.

"Hmm, does Chi know about her possible future in ANBU?" The copycat was slightly thrown off by the man.

Ibiki scoffed "No, and I don't want to get Chi in ANBU but I can't disobey my orders."

Kakashi could not recall a time where he had seen the tough and brute interrogator look more disheveled. It seemed that Anko had been right all along when she called him a giant teddy bear with a full body armor made of toughness, cruelty, scars and leather. He sighed, being a teacher was quite the challenge after all. Oh well, at least no one was after his kids.

 _My kids? My students._ He corrected his thoughts. That was all they were to him, after all.

"You should really stop drinking that much, Ibiki."

Both Jonin shot up at the sound of Iruka. He had closed in on them whilst suppressing his chakra and at a time where both were lost in thoughts. Ibiki's lip twitched and Kakashi was once again grateful for his mask. Neither felt like confessing how much of a terrible teacher they were, especially not to the Chuunin who had entrusted the kids to them.

Iruka gave them a look-over and sat on the remaining chair. "Pray tell, how did Naruto ended up sleeping at the Inazuka compound, and why did I hear rumors about Chi pummeling down trees at training ground fifteen?"

Kakashi frowned "Naruto had a sleepover? That's nothing bad, right? It means that he made some friends."

Iruka shook his head "It is not that simple. Tsume-san found him near his apartment and brought him to her house."

 _The clan head herself?_ "Are you sure, Iruka? Did she tell you herself?"

The Chuunin grinned sheepishly "No, I overheard part of her conversation with Aburame-san at the mission desk. I was hoping that you knew more about it."

The Elite shook his head "No, unfortunately it seems that Naruto neglected to tell me. Or anything else from his personal life for that matter."

Ibiki tensed warily when Iruka's eyes turned dark. Luckily the man's anger was not directed at him. "That boy leads such a terrible life, it's no wonder he doesn't tell anyone anything. He's probably afraid that you might reject him too."

Kakashi tried to envision a sad Naruto and found that he could not even imagine it. The kid was always happy and bouncing, seemingly ignoring the malicious glares from the villagers. _What a mask he created._

"Kakashi."

He looked up to meet the stern, solemn gaze of the teacher. "Take care of him."

"Hmm, he is my student after all." _I failed him so many times already..._

Iruka seemed to accept his spoken words and turned to the slouched Ibiki. "Well?"

"Hmff..."

"What about Chi and her recent destructiveness?"

Ibiki looked away "She's angry."

"Yes, I figured that much." Iruka agreed.

"I made her angry."

"I know that too."

Kakashi snorted. Ibiki send him a glare anyway and sighed, straightening up. A wave of chakra ran through his body and sobered him up.

"I don't know what to do. Kurenai advised me to spend some more time with them but I only made her more mad during the training."

"I think she meant quality time, not training. How about you take them out for dinner?" Iruka suggested amused.

"That would only be awkward."

"Have you even tried?" Iruka insisted, raising his eyebrows. He was rewarded with a guilty look from the tall man. The Chuunin sighed, it was as if all high ranked shinobi lost their common sense when dealing with fragile things like emotions. He shook his head in defeat and decided to change the topic.

"Anyhow, what have the kids learned until now?"

Ibiki saw the opportunity and took it, beating Kakashi. "Ryuya has been learning genjutsu with Cat while Shinji is taking kenjutsu lessons from Hayate. They are improving well. Shinji is working with me and I even managed to get Ryuya an apprenticeship with some of our spies."

Iruka choked a bit on that "Spy? That girl?"

Kakashi barely knew the girl but he had occasionally seen her around. She was tiny and somehow awoke the protectiveness of everyone around her. To make her into a spy could be very interesting.

"Yup! I am sure she can pull it off. She seems dedicated enough."

"It could work out great." Kakashi commented and Iruka nodded slowly, not entirely comfortable with the idea.

Ibiki gave him a dry look "She initially wanted to become Anko's apprentice."

"You did great. Please take good care of Ryuya." Iruka's eyes flitted over the infamous snake mistress in the corner. Kakashi could swear that he saw the Chuunin's aura grow dark. _Honestly, who on earth would want Anko to become their master?_

"What have you taught them personally?"

Ibiki coughed at the question. "Well, I am going to check their elemental affinities one of these days and they were all too eager to learn the Body Flicker so now they are flashing through the entire building." He sighed, unaware of the sudden light-bulb that went on in Kakashi's head.

The latter had little time to celebrate however, as both men turned to look at him. "Maa... I've ensured that they can walk on every surface I could find here." Kakashi drawled, paining his brain for something. He was sure that he had done some more work with them. Or did he?

"Jeez, all the brats can do that now." Ibiki grumbled good naturedly. At least that was what the copy cat hoped for, it was hard to tell with the man. "Your brats even won the race last Saturday."

"Yeah, aren't you a ninjutsu specialist?" Iruka questioned and said specialist felt a stab to his pride.

"... I am."

"Then what jutsu's have you taught them? They have great potential, especially Naruto. I mean, he can become a ninjutsu _monster_ with his stamina and clones. I talked to him a while ago, it seems that he already figured out how to train with Shadow Clones. It gives him a great advantage."

"...I know." _Holy cow. Oh sweet merciful mother. Oh my freaking Kami._ Kakashi resolved to find a proper steel wall to bash his head against. It seemed that through his constant reminiscing of his past team, he had completely neglected to pass his famous skills down to his students. _I am such an idiot._

"Kakashi? Are you alright?" Ibiki waved his hand in front of the sole eye. Iruka groaned and slapped his forehead. _So much for a genius..._

"Oi, _Kakashi of the Thousand jutsu_. Get your act together and start teaching, damn it. It doesn't look like you will get married to an unfortunate woman and have creepily skilled kids anytime soon, so your students are your only legacy. Put some effort in teaching, for crying out loud!" Iruka, as Ibiki recalled, always had zero mercy for anyone's pride and absolutely no problem in chewing his superiors out.

Said superiors were wincing on their spots. It took the masked man a few moments to register that the entirety of the bar (minus a near comatose Asuma) was listening in on their conversation. Kakashi could feel his remaining dignity escape through his toes and in between the gaps of the wooden floor. Might as well give it all up.

"I will."

Iruka jumped up and, despite being the taller one, Kakashi felt exactly five centimeters tall. A calloused finger pointed at his forehead. "You always say that! Make it happen Hatake!"

"Yes, sensei." The famed Elite Jonin cowered and wondered if this was how Iruka taught his class everyday. He thought of Naruto and felt a deeper respect growing for the loudmouth. From around him he could hear Anko snicker, but he got the last laugh when the teacher twirled around and faced her with a large vein popping out of his forehead.

"Don't think that I've forgotten about the changed file Mitarashi!"

Anko paled drastically and gulped. Iruka took a look at all the Jonin and launched in an incredibly detailed lecture as to why they were all hopeless and would never, ever get married (except for Kurenai and Asuma, of course).

No one dared to look up.


	10. We are shinobi

"So, how about we introduce each other first?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled and he, once again, declared his undying love for ramen and his equally undying dream of becoming Hokage. The day had finally come for Team 7 to take on the wandering member of Team 11. Kakashi and Ibiki had both received a crash course by Kurenai and Iruka on how to deal with the girls (and boys as well) on their respective teams the night before and the copy cat had paid close attention. No one knew, but he had had a bad dream a couple of days ago. It involved an angry squirrel and Sakura's blood curling scream for help before she got dragged in a tree. When he woke up, he vowed to turn the skirmish, shrill and pink girl in a tough, pink and independent one. So he took notes and revised them with Kurenai who was very happy to see his dedication. It was safe to say that he was so ready for this.

 _I think._

After Naruto's passionate speech had finished, Sakura started. Kakashi had already tuned the blond out and was about to do the same to Sakura- she was still loud and skirmish and he really did not need to hear about how much she loved Sasuke again, thank you very much- when the girl straightened her back.

"I am Haruno Sakura. I like shopping, reading, chocolate and uuhh..." She glanced at her stoic teammate for a second. "I don't really have a dream right now because I haven't figured out my fortes, but I will definitely become a good kunoichi! I would also like to train more in genjutsu." She added shyly.

Her sensei was pleasantly surprised and nodded in approval. He could swear that he saw her light up at his reaction. _Is my opinion really that important to her?_

His eye turned to the forever grumpy member of his team and Kakashi felt a flash of annoyance regarding the boy. It seemed that after spending more time with friendly and smiling people like Naruto and Asuma for example, had made him more sensitive (read: allergic) to the opposite. He would never go as far as saying that he disliked the boy, but man, the kid was pushing it. He could only imagine what would happen as soon as Kakashi revealed his Sharingan. He hoped for that day not to come any time soon.

"Well, Sasuke?"

The boy scoffed "You already know and she doesn't need to know."

Naruto was about to say something, but both girls grabbed his arms. Sakura's shoulders were slumped again, something that strangely affected Kakashi in a bad way. Chi gave the raven haired boy a sideways glance and shrugged.

"You're right, I don't. You're not interesting anyway."

Naruto snorted and got reprimanded (gently) by Sakura. Sasuke's chakra spiked angrily. Chi merely dismissed his presence and turned to Kakashi. He looked at her and decided that he could work with her attitude.

"Though I am sure that you already read my file..." He eyed her amusedly as she had the good grace to cough embarrassedly. "I am Hatake Kakashi, Elite Jonin. My hobbies are none of your concern, you're not old enough anyway... My hopes and dreams... Yeah, I got a few of them."

"Geez, you still have that lame introduction." Naruto huffed annoyed. Chi looked confused but in the end sighed.

"Pleased to meet you, sensei. Please take care of me."

An eye smile was send her way. "Pleased to meet you too. Now, how about we start with our training?"

Chi glanced at the sun, it was already high in the sky, and looked at him "Eh we already did some before."

"Oh? You did?" _I know you did. I was spying on you._

Sakura nodded hesitantly "Yeah, we all did some training since you were late. It was Chi's idea."

"We ran some laps and did some stretching, nothing much." Naruto put his hands behind his head. "I'm not even tired'ttebayo!"

 _Of course you wouldn't be._

"Well then, I suppose we can get started with some sparring huh? Sakura you go against me, Naruto and Chi are against each other and Sasuke can take the tree."

Another spike of chakra flared and Kakashi noted Chi's eyes flitting over to the Uchiha.

"Why am I against the tree? I should be against you, let Sakura hit that thing." He all but snarled.

 _Ah he must still be angry that both Chi and Naruto managed to explode a tree this morning and he couldn't. Silly kid, they were supposed to walk up the trunk. Those two failed the exercise, you did it perfectly._

"Well, because those two know each other best and I believe that they were on about the same level during graduation." Chi muttered something about not being that bad, Naruto let out a cry of indignity.

"Sakura needs extra guidance and against me she can go all out while I give feedback. That leaves you and making a clone is useless since it would pop anyway. So that means hitting the tree." He concluded with a smile. Sasuke scoffed and twirled on his heel, stalking to the furthest tree to beat up. Kakashi looked at his retreating back. _It's a good thing Iruka warned me. I am not teaching you any jutsu while you're like this, you could kill someone._

"Let's get started."

The kids shuffled to their spots. He looked at all of them, Sasuke would no doubt be in need of bandages again, and looked at the pinkette. "Shall we?" Sakura nodded once and got in her starting position. He smiled, and got in his stance as well. _Let's see how much I can work with you._

 _Half and hour later~_

Naruto growled and charged at his opponent again. Chi grinned and flickered away again, reappearing right behind him with a firm kick to his back. The blond flew through the air, twisted around and landed on all fours. He didn't even hesitate to launch himself again. This time his fist met Chi's and they engaged in a long close ranged fight. Chi wasn't sure how long they were sparring already but she was enjoying every bit. At least Naruto was on her level and had the stamina to match. It had been a while since she had a good fight like this.

The boy ran to her left but promptly disappeared, only to reappear at her right. Naruto spun around and kicked her away with a kick to her face. She performed a one handed cartwheel and landed again. Both wasted no time in attacking each other again, completely unaware of the rest gathering around. Sakura stared at them and looked back at herself. She was sweating and puffing in exertion and she had only sparred for ten minutes. She looked at her sensei -who was as ruffled as always: not- and sighed. She had a lot of catching up to do.

Sasuke looked interested and it worried Kakashi. He shook his head and placed a hand near his mouth.

"Naruto! Chi! Come over here."

Sakura was confused "But sensei, they aren't done yet and they don't seem tired."

The one eyed Jonin let out a chuckle "If we would wait until those two got tired, we would be sitting here for the rest of the day." He hadn't figured out why, but it seemed like the girl had monstrous reserves as well. Probably not as much as Naruto but still, a lot.

He looked at the approaching duo, neither looked terribly exhausted. They were winded and had some light bruises but they could probably go for another couple of rounds. Sasuke had apparently figured that out as well and faced Chi as soon as she was close.

"Fight me."

Kakashi wanted to groan and send the kid flying at the still not destroyed tree. He was just too proud for no good reason (at least to a Jonin) and it made the man want to throw a sandal at him -after he had thrown him against the tree. As much as he wanted to help the kid, the last loyal Uchiha was just a snobby little sh-

"Why should I?" Chi retorted without missing a beat. Next to her, Naruto was biting his fist to stop himself from exclaiming whatever it was that he wanted to shout at the world. Kakashi appreciated the effort. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Scared I might beat you?"

 _That's not even an answer._ His hands were itching and so he pulled his book out. He stared. _That is a kunai, Kakashi. Put it back._

"I'd be disappointed if you couldn't. You were the top of our year, I was near the bottom."

"So? Fight me." _Wow Sasuke, one track mind much?_ Even Sakura sweat-dropped.

"What? No! Why do you even need to fight me?" Chi wiped her forehead and looked at the boy with growing frustration. _First he gets pissed and now he wants to spar? And they call me bipolar._

"I want to practice." Sasuke answered coolly.

Chi scowled "On me? Don't kid around, Uchiha. You never do things just for the sake of practice without some darker, bloodthirsty and slightly worrisome reason behind it."

 _She's right you know?_ The entire group (minus Sasuke and Chi) agreed inwardly.

Sasuke twitched "Fine, I want to test how my fighting is compared to yours."

"Go fight Naruto!"

"The dobe is the dead last. You can actually fight at times. So fight me."

Naruto had taken to jumping on his spot, his only sane teammate patted his back apologetically.

Chi glared the the raven, her eyes turning yellow. "You're really annoying."

"Just fight me already!"

"FINE!" Chi stomped to her earlier spot, leaving smoking footsteps in her wake. Sasuke smirked victoriously and Sakura looked worried.

"Sensei?"

"Just let them be Sakura." _Ibiki trained his team well. I hope the brat's head gets deflated a bit._ He put his book away and grabbed Naruto. "Let's cheer them on." _I know who I am cheering for._

"GO CHI! Beat the arrogance out of that bastard!" _Ah_ _Naruto, a boy to my heart._

"Don't hurt each other!" _Aaah, the medic inside of her is speaking._ "Red does suit you two but it is a drag to wash it out." _Or sociopath..._

He send a small, worried glance at the girl who was seemingly unaware that she had said that out loud. Naruto slowly made his way to Kakashi's other side. He patted their heads and called out.

"Start!"

Sasuke had just enough time to put on his trademark expression and get in his stance when the signal was given. The moment the words had left Kakashi's lips, Chi flickered away. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Running away? Come and fight me!" He challenged the girl, who was still nowhere to be found. He too made good use of the latest addition to his repertoire and flickered to various spots on the training field. _They like that too much._ The Jonin wanted to cringe, he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Chi appeared right behind the boy and held a kunai to his neck. "It's over."

 _Called it._

Sasuke went rigid and exploded in anger. "How?" He growled.

"I hid and waited for the right moment. Practiced it often at my own training." She explained curtly, still holding the weapon dangerously close to his skin. The faint smell of blood reached her nose and she willed Kakashi to call the match. He did, after he ensured that Naruto would remain quiet.

"Chi won. Come over here now."

Sasuke, now freed, twirled around "What? That wasn't even a fight!"

Kakashi waved his book "Maa, the best battles are won without a fight." _Or something._

"But how can I get stronger without a fight?!" Sasuke was fuming.

Chi frowned "Chill out. We all want to get stronger and tactical battles are just as much training as beating the daylights out of someone."

"Tactic won't help me achieve my goal!" The group stilled, all remembering Sasuke's morbid dream.

"And what's that?" Of course, Chi hadn't been there at the time.

"To kill the murderer of my clan."

Chi rose her eyebrows, looking unimpressed. "Why?"

Sasuke was scandalized "Because he killed my entire family!"

"You're still alive?"

"HE LET ME LIVE! He told me to hate him, to grow stronger until I could defeat him!" Naruto turned pale at that.

"...So you hate him?"

"YES!" Sasuke was panting. His eyes were shimmering with a suspicious look.

Chi's expression was devoid of anything "Then why do you listen to what he says?"

Sasuke's eyes widened but his face quickly contorted in rage "I don't. I don't need to listen because I hate him. Because I want to kill him. Because I want to avenge my clan."

"Who did it?"

Sasuke glared at the ground, fists clenched so tight that blood started dripping on the ground. Sakura felt her insides go queasy at his answer.

"Itachi. My brother." He spat the name out like venom. The color drained out of Naruto's face and Kakashi felt his stomach turn at the memory.

"Huh."

The group fell in an incredulous silence, only Kakashi had a slight clue of what might have caused the last known Ketsueki's reaction. Sasuke did not.

"What did you say?!"

Chi was already partly turned away and looked back, her eyes ruby. "In my case it was my old geezer."

The birds ceased their songs. "...What?"

Naruto's eyes turned dark, he had heard this before.

"My grandfather found it necessary to teach me how to kill. So he killed everyone in the compound." She explained nonchalantly. Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"Why did yours do it?"

Sasuke was stunned but he managed an answer "H-he wanted to test his capacity."

"I think that's a load of bull." Her answer was blunt. His team held their breaths. Kakashi sensed an ANBU nearby almost losing his balance. His insides felt cold as his brain started working in overdrive. The massacre had always felt suspicious to could very well be a dangerous SS-rank secret, but most of his knowledge was a result of his unhealthy curiosity anyway.

"Huh?" Sasuke had lost his stoic composure. Sakura realized with a start that he suddenly looked a lot more like a lost child than a brooding 'avenger'.

"I read his file." Chi closed her eyes for a second "Uchiha Itachi, genius, ANBU captain, special notes were that he was actually too kind to be a shinobi and abnormally loyal to Konoha. Abnormal compared to the other Uchiha's." She looked back at him again. "That's why I think his reason is a load of crap."

"B-but he told me! He killed our parents and he told me!" Sasuke shouted, hands trembling.

"Tough. But we're shinobi."

Chi left it at that and passed Naruto, clapping him on his back in a jovial gesture. The boy didn't react, just let her go to stand in the shadow of a nearby oak. Sasuke looked at her and then at Kakashi. His eyes were so wide and so pained that the teacher had to go to him. He looked small and helpless.

He rested a hand on the boy's head "Calm yourself Sasuke. Chi has a different approach to this. We all do." Sasuke looked up to see the lone eye staring down at him sadly.

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Naruto and I are also the last known members of our own clans. Everyone has a different way of dealing with it."

Sasuke's eyes grew watery and he turned away. His palms stung from where his nails dug in but the burning in his chest was way more potent. The memories resurfaced, brought him back to the night and filled his nostrils with the sweet metallic scent of blood.

"Take a break. We will continue in five minutes." Kakashi turned to the group. The kids nodded and scattered. Sasuke walked off as far as he could, occasionally bringing his sleeve up to his face. Sakura went to meditate in corner, probably to process all that happened. Naruto decided to spar against a tree and Chi just sat on the spot. Kakashi sighed deeply.

The group gathered after five minutes again and this time, they got together for a round of a special lesson. The kids were subdued but none of them seemed eager to touch the previous subject. Kakashi decided that it was for the best and didn't poke. He reached inside his pocket, felt an evil snicker come up when Team 7 tensed warily and Naruto stood standby to cover Chi's eyes, and pulled out a couple of sheets. Ibiki already tested his trio but it couldn't hurt to do it again.

"It is time to check your elemental affinity."

Naruto already had a question prepared.

 _At lunch time~_

Kakashi mulled over the four papers. Or actually, six papers. Naruto was, much to his heart's agony, a wind type. Sakura had water and Sasuke had lightning (again, much to his agony though for a different reason). Chi turned out to be a surprise when her paper tore in half as well. His shock must have been evident because the girl found it necessary to inform him that most of her clan used to be wind type. They just never thought it was necessary to use since they had their bloodline that could do a lot of strong, fast, _disturbing, creepy_ and deadly attacks.

Kakashi privately thought that if Asuma ever heard of this (he most likely would for obvious reasons) he would pack up and move to become a monk in order to deal with the pain and stress. Or have a seizure. Wind types were rare and thus often looked each other up for practice or to mourn the lack of fellow shinobi with the wind-affinity. To learn that an entire clan had this affinity, and that they were reduced to a single Genin (for all everyone knew) would be mortifying. He definitely needed his camera ready for when he would break the news to the bearded Jonin.

He looked at the eating kids one by one, wondering if they had any more surprises in store for him. His eye stopped at Naruto. His heart would give out if the boy showed any more similarities to his parents, he was sure of that. He stacked the paper sheets, being extra careful with the soaked one, and put them in a pocket hidden inside his vest. His finger touched a smooth surface. It was the seal from the bell test, put inside a slip cover. His curiosity piqued, Kakashi decided to take his chances.

"Chi?"

Said girl looked up.

"Can you tell me what this seal does?"

As it turned out, no one dared to activate the mysterious seal. Kakashi had examined and just carefully pocketed it in the hopes of meeting the girl. He really wanted to know what it did and to determine how dangerous it was. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her reaction to the slip of paper. Chi took one look at it and paled several shades. Her chopsticks dropped and, with the agility of a cat, she jumped up and smacked Naruto on his head. The other kids looked up in wonder.

Naruto whined "What was that for?!"

Chi's eyes burned yellow "Stupid! I told you to never use this seal inside the village!"

"What seal?!" Naruto jumped up as well and both Genin glared at each other. The ground cracked from around their feet.

"This one." Kakashi supplied, very curious now.

Naruto took one look and frowned "What did it do again?"

Chi groaned and hit him again "That, you giant mushroom, is a seal that could defeat a Kage."

Kakashi was very glad he didn't touch it. Naruto was excited. Sasuke's eyes had a certain glint to them that made him feel worried.

"Oh that's so cool!" The orange clad ninja paused "But how?"

Chi threw her hands up and plopped down on her spot again. "It seals away the life force of everyone who touches it. It was used in battle where shinobi would often had chakra residue and blood on their body. The moment they touched it, all of their blood or chakra- depending on what touched it first- would be sucked out and sealed away." She recalled from memory, eyes scanning the sky as if to the words were written there.

Kakashi was very, _very_ glad he didn't test it. "Why do you have it?" He asked because _this should be a kage-level kinjutsu and not known to someone as reckless as Naruto or to any Genin for that matter!_

"Huh? Oh, my clan has developed blood seals."

"Blood seals?" He had heard of a few. Disturbing stuff. "How come?"

Chi flashed a grin "My grandmother on my father's side was a sealing master and she brought it in the clan. She was an Uzumaki after all."

The Genin looked interested. Kakashi was dizzy. 

"Oh yeah! We're basically family'ttebayo!"

"No we are not? Uzushiogakure was large ya know?" Chi frowned. "At least before it was reduced to a

ghost-town."

 _Why the flipperdyflipfrack do they know about this?_

Naruto apparently sensed the confusion and helped his sensei. "Since my last name is Uzumaki, and I can't go to the Archives, I asked Chi to help me. I found some information in her clan's library'ttebayo."

"This is also why I have unusual chakra reserves." Chi smiled as if that made everything better.

It didn't. It _really_ did not.

"So, your chakra is like a kekkei genkai?" Sasuke almost looked smug for some reason. However, Chi refuted his comment.

"Nah. Uzumaki chakra is like the Uchiha's black hair. It's completely natural and everyone of them has it. Much like the Senju clan."

Sasuke's smirk was gone again. Sakura looked at her teammates and sighed. "So now what?"

Her words brought Kakashi back to the real world. There was really not much to do about this news. Except: "Chi, next time you make Naruto draw a seal, please come and consult with either me, Ibiki or the Hokage. And Naruto, don't ever do this without supervision from me or the Hokage."

Both nodded sheepishly. Kakashi shook his head, feeling glad that any gray hairs would be invisible on him. "Finish up your meals. It's almost time for a mission."

 _I can understand why Ibiki is drinking so much now. This girl is a headache._ He got up and dusted his pants. _Speaking of headaches, I need to go and report all of this to the Hokage... Damn, I need some sake._

Naruto's face contorted almost immediately at his words. Much to the loud Genin's credit though, he kept his complaining to an angry eye twitch and cracking knuckles throughout the entire way of walking to the Hokage Tower. Sakura eyed her teammate and sped up to walk next to Kakashi "Say sensei? Couldn't we just use the Body Flicker to get there?"

He spared her a short glance before looking at his book again. Sakura could swear that she heard him smirk "Hmm? Oh right, but then we might miss any kind, old ladies who need our help."

He had to spend the remainder of the walk carrying her over his shoulder as the girl rounded on him looking ready to dismember him. All his hard work had finally paid off as his Genin (only one unfortunately) had snapped. This didn't mean that he had won though, since his responsible adult side made him put his precious (and re-stuck together with tape) book away whilst carrying his student. It didn't stop her from making his back feel like a giant bruise.

He looked back to find Chi warily clearing the path for a steaming- no literally, there was steam coming off the boy- Naruto and Sasuke pulling at the bandages around his hands. The boy hadn't spoken much since his outburst and Kakashi had seen the redness of his eyes along with his puffy face. At times like these he wished that Iruka was tied to a summoning contract. All it would take was a scroll and boom: Iruka arrived to avert the crisis.

 _Perhaps we can trick him._ He mulled on the thought for a while before shaking his head, much to his student's confusion. _Nah, he has worked with Anko before. Nothing will get past him now._

They arrived- not a second to soon because the moment the word 'D-rank' escaped Kakashi's lips, Naruto exploded and left the windows vibrating violently and two ANBU masks cracked (Kakashi heard it happen). After making sure that his eardrum wasn't damaged, the copy cat scratched his head and looked at the Hokage. Said Hokage was not in the least bit disturbed but Kakashi figured that age was finally catching up to the man and Naruto's loud voice was just enough for him to believe the boy was simply shouting. Not that he would ever say that out loud, of course.

"I want a C-rank!" Naruto demanded and this time Kakashi whacked his head "We got that, Naruto. Now be quiet."

"C-rank huh? I suppose it wouldn't hurt." The Third Hokage smiled gently. Kakashi feared that his own age was catching up too.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, I have just received a C-rank that should get your team the necessary experience on these kind of missions." Sarutobi reached out and placed the scroll in the hand of a numb Kakashi. He never imagined looking at the man like that. He really needed a camera for this. _Naruto had been too quiet these past weeks, I am actually glad he asked for one._

"It is an escort mission to the country of Wave. Our client has just arrived as well so I will introduce you to each other."

When the drunk-out-of-his-mind client named Tazuna came in, Kakashi simply greeted him and introductions were exchanged. The man then called Naruto short and demanded to know why he was given a bunch of kids as escort and it all went downhill from there on.

"Meet me at the gate in two hours, pack for at least two weeks and don't bring any extra stuff." He send a pointed look at Sakura and Naruto before dismissing them. He himself went to grab his always-prepared backpack and decided that it was only polite to inform his team that he would be going out for a mission.

Alas Team 7 plus Chi went their separate ways to get ready. Naruto was jumping up and down in joy and went to grab some lunch as well. Sasuke was glad that he was finally allowed to do something he felt was on his level. Sakura was nervous and decided to pack her pink-with-flowers med-kit as well as extra toiletries. Chi cursed her luck and raced to the T&I building to report and get a list of what to pack, then flickered all the way to her compound (conveniently located at the _opposite_ side of the village, lucky her) and started storing everything haphazardly in the seals on her armor. She was barely aware of her sensei standing behind her and thus jumped when he spoke.

"Take care."

"Huh?" Her hand with her toothbrush missed the seal and stabbed her stomach. Ibiki allowed a grin on his face at his student's antics.

"Remember that you are the student of an interrogator. If it comes to it, be sure to take on that role. I am sure that Kakashi would be able to guide you there."

Chi nodded, feeling strange. This was the first time that he had directly acknowledged her as his student. "I will, sensei."

Ibiki nodded and then tilted his head "Say, what was usual in your clan when a Genin left for a mission outside the village?"

Chi startled "Not much as far as I remember. A pat on the back maybe?"

"Hmm. What was used as a means of communication?"

"Communication?"

"As in way to stay in touch with each other from a long distance."

"They would exchange blood to keep in touch, I think."

"I see." He walked up to her and rolled his sleeve up, revealing his scarred arm. "And how did they do that?"

Her heart swelled.


	11. Theory behind a puddle

"Say, 'Kashi sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you _sure_ that we can't kill our client? Like, one hundred percent sure?"

"Yes Naruto, I have read the rules and guidelines and I am absolutely sure." Kakashi send his youngest student an amused look before focusing on the book in his hand again.

Naruto pouted and let himself fall back to where Chi was walking. Sasuke and Sakura were on either side of the group, having been tasked to look around for any enemies. _Although those enemies wouldn't be stupid enough to let themselves get spotted by kids._

The sun shone brightly like it had for the past weeks but the tall trees provided shadow and coolness. It was warm day with not much wind at all. He hoped that it would stay like this. _And that we won't meet any trouble on the way._ Kakashi eyed Tazuna, the man managed to be hungover and drunk at the same time. He dragged his feet, cursed and grumbled at everything and reeked so strongly of alcohol that both Naruto and Kakashi had to give him a berth of two meters to be able to breathe normally. He never realized how sharp the blond's senses were and he didn't like to think why.

With the original Team 7 occupied for various reasons, it left Chi to stay close to the client. Said girl was glaring holes in the back of the silver-haired man's head. The man simply ignored her in favor of the adventures of Miko-chan in the bathhouse.

Chi had argued that the Jonin should stay close to the client to protect him. He had replied that he wanted to protect _all_ of them and thus should walk in front of them. It had earned him a couple of disbelieving stares and a very honest Naruto telling him that his 'awful' training methods were more likely to kill them than a group of rogues. Besides, the kid continued, they were strong enough to protect themselves.

He had almost laughed at that. These kids only just graduated. Sure they were trained for the fighting and killing, but they weren't experienced enough. Not to mention that most of the battles are those of wit and deception. Ninja's weren't honorable knights in shining armor. They were the backstabbing sorcerers, the anti-hero's, the snake in a group. Something those kids still had to learn. Especially if Danzo got any more power in the future.

On a whim, he stretched his senses to analyze the group. Kakashi marveled at the sheer heat and power radiating from the two dead-lasts. Naruto drowned out nearly everyone around him with his ocean of chakra. Chi was the only one he could sense properly besides him, her chakra was cold and unpleasant, unlike Naruto's. The blond's chakra was like a warm hand sooting the ache in his chest. It was the sign that he was given a second chance. A chance to make up to the teacher who died for the village, to make up for the boisterous kid he had called his friend only after he had died. Kakashi wanted to make things right.

Behind him, Naruto wanted to make things fun. So he approached his brown haired teammate.

"Hey Chi?"

"Yeah?" She gave him a sideways look.

"How about a match?" Naruto grinned mischievously.

"Of what?" Chi knew her friend all too well. Last time she had agreed without questioning, they had ended up cleaning yellow slime off the Hokage Tower. She could still smell the nasty, chemical scent of bananas and glue on her clothes. Of course, it _had_ only been a week ago

"Of whoever reaches Kakashi sensei first!"

Chi looked at the teacher walking just ahead of them, head buried in that suspicious book. "He's only over there, ya know? That's hardly a race."

"Then, lets see who can climb that tree the fastest!"

"We are on guard duty! Besides, if we climb then the group will have to stop. We will only take longer to get there."

"Then, how about whoever reaches Wave first?"

"Dude, stop. That's still two days away."

"Awh..."

"Just... Walk ahead and tell me what you see."

"Sure thing!" He burst forward and started to loudly call out every tree, squirrel and flower he saw.

Sakura groaned and readjusted her backpack. Though she had not packed a lot of clothes, her kit was pretty heavy. She stole a jealous glance at Chi who was walking around without any backpack whatsoever. She didn't even have the usual weapon pouch!

 _Come to think of it, that is pretty suspicious. Mom and dad did tell me to be wary of her. Wonder why._ Sakura wiped the sweat of her forehead and walked closer, still keeping an eye out for the trees.

"Hey, where are your stuff?"

Chi looked up in surprise at being talked to "Huh? Oh-" she showed the brace around her wrist, "I sealed all of it."

Sakura squinted and could make out a finely carved seal on the steel. "That's pretty useful."

 _Pretty damn useful. Imagine the possibilities!_ She pondered for a bit and decided to swallow her pride. "Say, can you teach me?"

"Sure!" Chi shrugged "It's no problem."

The pinkette's face lit up and she went back to her position. She walked for two more steps before she froze and Inner-Sakura screeched. _Oi! What about her being suspicious huh?! She could be dangerous!_ Sakura groaned.

"-big tree, small tree, yellow flower, puddle, little mouse, red flower-" Naruto kept on chanting until Sasuke lobbed a small stone at his head. The boy whirled around immediately, undoubtedly excited at the thought of a fight.

"Bastard, you wanna fight?!" Naruto growled and turned on the raven.

The latter scoffed "You're too loud. No one needs to kno-"

He walked straight into Kakashi's back. Before he could react however, the Jonin barked an order.

"Formation 3, now! Chi take the rear."

The Genin started and flashed in place, Naruto at the front, Sasuke right and Sakura left of Tazuna. The man himself was frozen in fear. For a moment it was quiet until a soft whistle sounded. Something huge blurred in front of Kakashi and in a split second, the silhouette of the Jonin distorted. Sakura felt bile rise up her throat as blood and guts flew around. Tears welled up in her eyes as the memory engraved itself in her mind.

 _Sensei... is gone?_

It was unreal, to her Kakashi was invincible. To her left she could hear Naruto's ragged breathing and Chi's gritted teeth. She barely noticed the gray projectile coming at them until a blue and white figure jumped up and kicked it down.

"Sasuke-kun!" She gasped.

The boy grunted and twisted, throwing shurikens at the two men. They looked like the epitome of brute and monstrous with their huge gauntlets and wide cloaks. One of them looked at her and she gasped when the narrow pupils focused on her. He took a step forwards, easily avoiding Sasuke's assault, and launched a series of senbon at her. A scream tore from her lips as she saw no chance to avoid them. Sasuke's eyes widened, he was too far away and had to keep his eyes on the other man.

Naruto stopped thinking. He pushed himself off the ground and shielded his teammate. A dozen of sharp needles embedded themselves in his crossed arms and he allowed a hiss in pain. Sakura yelped in shock and caught him when he fell. Something yellow blurred passed them and the attacking men suddenly found themselves faced with the last Genin. Sasuke quickly jumped next to her, hands ready for his fire jutsu.

Chi was pissed. She reached in her haori and pulled her kyoketsu-shoge out. The blade shone in the sunlight for a brief moment as it spun around, creating a whistling sound just like the giant shuriken of the men had.

 _Now what?_ Sasuke frowned, eying the rotating blade. One of the men grinned and looked at the other. As one they stepped forward and swung their weapon ahead.

"Get behind!" Chi grabbed her blade and jumped in front of the boy. With a grunt, she caught the shuriken with her weapon. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he jumped up, forming seals as he did.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire flew at the two men, but jumped away. The shuriken fell to the ground. Chi looked at the chains, they weren't connected anymore.

"Sasuke!"

He landed next to her. "I know." _You don't need to tell me._

 _Honestly Kakashi sensei, was this the time to get yourself killed?_ Chi though exasperatedly, ignoring the rapid pulsing in her veins. It looked like they might be able to defeat those two but- seeing how easily they got Kakashi- she had her doubts. Sasuke was feeling no better. They sensei was supposed to be one of Konoha's best, and he got torn apart like it was nothing. Red eyes invaded his mind and he pinched his thigh to stay alert.

The two men let out a near identical chuckle and walked closer. Both Genin tensed up. Chi noted the masks and got reminded of a past encounter. Her muscles started protesting at being restrained. The chains glowed and heated up due to the amount of chakra Chi was radiating. They tightened around her stomach, making her gasp for air. The ground cracked around her feet. Sasuke forced himself to stay on his spot despite his instincts screaming for escape.

The gray cloaks flew up. Chi and Sasuke braced themselves but the attack never came. In a long two-second sequence, a white flash appeared and both attackers found themselves buried with their heads in the ground. Neither twitched anymore.

"Good job kids." Kakashi clapped his hands and send them a lazy eye smile. Sasuke's jaw almost dropped, his heart light all of a sudden.

Chi sighed and fell in a crouch. "That was too much, sensei."

"Maa, was it-"

"KAKASHI SENSEI GET OVER HERE!" All three looked up, Kakashi stalked past them. Behind the two was Sakura holding a sweating Naruto. Surrounding them were the senbon. The sensei crouched next to them.

"Sensei, he's not waking up and he's sweating so much!"

Kakashi nodded, examining the boy before picking up a senbon and squinting at the tip.

"It's a good thing you pulled the senbon out, but be careful next time. They could have hit a vital spot." Sakura, face ashen, nodded and reached in her opened med-kit to grab some tissues. Kakashi grabbed Naruto's wrist, the pulse was strong and fast. Sasuke and Chi gathered behind him.

"What's with him? Those were just needles." Sasuke said and received a punch to his arm as answer. Chi glared at him.

"Those two are called the Demon brothers, their weapons are poisoned." Kakashi answered before a fight could break out.

Naruto moaned in pain and shook his head as if he were in a nightmare. Kakashi looked at him with pity. "He'll be fine-" _The Kyuubi won't let him die._ "but we have to rest for a while."

He stood up, to his full length, and looked over at the Genin. "Are you hurt?"

They all shook their heads.

"Where is our client?"

Chi sent a worried glance at Naruto before answering "I left him in the tree."

She pointed up at a large chestnut. The Team 7's eyes followed the direction and paused on the trembling man who had his limps wrapped around the trunk in an attempt to stay safe. His eyes were shut.

"Did you think that he might not be able to stay there?"

Her mouth opened and closed again without a reply. Kakashi had to smile and went to fetch the man. "Remember that next time."

He dropped Tazuna, who stumbled to the nearest tree and fainted- no one went to help him up- and then went to take care of Naruto. The punctures were already closed and a peek at Sakura showed that she had not noticed. She kept herself busy with wiping the sweat off his forehead. Kakashi told her to go and set up a simple camp with the rest and picked the orange boy up.

 _He's too light._ He made a mental note to check the kid's diet, and went to lay him down in the shadows. Then he got up and tied the Demon Brothers to a tree and pinned a note on their cloaks. It seemed that they weren't immune to their own poison and thus still unconscious. Kakashi figured that if they weren't found in two days, they would die.

The camp was set up fairly quick and soon the four shinobi and one drunkard were seated against the trees, a bit further from the path. Sasuke looked at him "How did you know?"

Kakashi send a smile at him "Naruto told me."

"Huh?" The comical confusion was a refreshing change on the canvas-like face.

"Remember when he started calling out everything in the scenery?"

"...Yes?"

"Well, he said that there was a puddle. A puddle is made by rain, but it hasn't rained in weeks."

The confusion cleared and he saw Chi steal a glance at Tazuna. Her eyes were suspicious. _As expected of Ibiki's student._ He looked at his own students and saw that they were again immersed in their own activities. He let out a mental sigh. He really needed to up their training. Luckily (or not?) Iruka had already foreseen this for some reason, and had made him write down a new schedule. He wanted to start as soon as possible; the deadline was nearing after all.

"Now, while we are waiting for Naruto's system to take out the poison, how about I teach you guys how to make a storage seal?"

 _Because walking around with bulging backpacks really isn't cool or healthy or ninja-like._

Chi raised her hand, question obvious.

"You don't have to." He nodded at her.

She nodded back and walked over to his side, where Naruto was laying, and sat down. Sasuke send her a glare. Kakashi gave his blond student a look before focusing again and produced a small scroll from his pouch. When the papers, brushes and bottle of ink poofed in existence, neither Sasuke or Sakura (or Tazuna) could hide their surprise. He allowed a small grin. The improved training was going tot start today.

 _Three hours later~_

Kakashi looked at the small orange back that was a good couple of meters ahead of him. Naruto was marching forward and would have ran if Kakashi hadn't stopped him. He sighed.

"Naruto?"

"Naruto?"

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

No answer. Kakashi tried again "Naruto-kun?"

"..."

"They only learned about storage seals, which you already know." Kakashi called out. Naruto huffed and walked faster. Sakura and Chi were hiding their smiles behind their hands. Sasuke was annoyed again. He looked back just in time to stop himself from crashing into Naruto's back. The boy twirled around and poked an accusing finger at his flack jacket.

"I can't believe you trained them without me!"

Kakashi wanted to smack his forehead but that would do more harm than good and so he put his best I-am-sorry eye-smile on. "Maa, I was only making sure that they were all on the same level as you are."

The blue eyes lit up, but with all the pride an orange-clad-twelve-year-old ninja could muster, he still looked away. "Don't think that that's enough."

But the Jonin could hear the waver in his voice. He reached out and ruffled the blond locks.

"Forgive me? I won't do it again, promise."

His heart clenched when the oh so familiar eyes locked with his sole eye. A boyish grin spread over the boy's lips, making him look the way he had looked as the nine year old whom ANBU-Kakashi had caught trying to kidnap a deer from the Nara Compound.

"Okay, I forgive you. But it's going to cost ya a week of ramen!" He grinned and jumped away, laughing out loud. His sensei smiled and pulled his book out, it couldn't hurt to spend some money on his students. _I won't buy him more than two bowls though..._

 _In Konoha, same time~_

"She is growing well, I suppose?"

"Yes... She is."

"But?"

Ibiki stood a little straighter. His skin was crawling. There were at least ten guards hidden around him, in the shadows near the trashcans and corners in the alley besides the office. How he wished that he was strong enough to take them all on!

"I do not believe she is capable of being an ANBU."

It was silent for a while. The old man in front of him- _So fragile and old, yet I still can't kill him-_ looked him in his eyes.

"I will be the judge of that."

Ibiki gritted his teeth. "Surely you have not forgotten what happened with the other Ketsueki who joined the ANBU? They went on and murdere-"

"They did their jobs well. That is all that we need. That is all that Konoha needs."

The single eye send shivers down Ibiki's spine. Ibiki wished he could use the bandages to strangle him.

"I expect a better report next time."

He turned around and vanished along with his guards. The interrogator sighed in relief and sagged against the wall. _Damn you, Danzo Shimura. Damn you all the way to Hell._

Two windows up, Nara Shikaku and the Third Hokage shared a grim look. The Third had received information from his personal guards that Danzo and his own guards were spotted near the T&I building. Hiruzen had wasted no time in gathering the Jonin commander and used a variety of prepared seals (courtesy of the Jiraiya and his late student) to hide their presence. Both of them had listened to the conversation and neither had to ask about the thoughts of the other.

"Ibiki is in trouble." Shikaku said, rubbing his forehead.

"Indeed. Where is Team 11?" The Hokage asked.

"Ryuya is training with Kanzo-san. Shinji is driving the interrogators department mad with her questions. Chi is on her way to the Land of Waves with Team 7." The Jonin remembered Ibiki rushing out right after his student had left. The man didn't admit it, but the girls had become his weak spot.

The Third nodded slowly, clasping his pipe between his lips. "We will have to wait and see how this develops. Once the Chuunin Exams are finished we can discuss her future."

Shikaku searched his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter. He needed some nicotine to get his mind to stop predicting different outcomes. The situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. Danzo was still only using words, Chi still hated the ANBU and wasn't skilled enough to pass the test anyway. Besides, she was still a Genin. The deal was to wait until she had at least become a Chuunin.

It could change though. Danzo was never a patient man, as soon as the possibility opened up he would try to teach the girl himself. Get her to learn and improve the horrible techniques of her clan. Once that happens, chances were she would go down the same path as her mother.

They needed her to remain a jack of all trades, but never let her become a master of them. At least not until Danzo was out of the way. Shikaku lit his cigarette and inhaled "I hope Ibiki can last that long."

The Hokage didn't reply.

 _Land of Waves, that evening~_

The man was pressed against the back of his chair by his own will. It was an impressive feat, seeing as he barely fit in. Sweat rolled down his forehead and nose in beads, his already overworked heart beat furiously and his breathing was ragged. Still, he wore a massive scowl on his face.

The demon in front of him saw right through it and slowly lifted his unnecessary large sword up. The edge was dangerously close to the man's nose.

"It seems like you have some problems eh?"

Gato mustered all of his courage and remained silent. The demon grinned. There was a white spot on the right side at the end of the room. Gato couldn't focus on it but he was sure that it was a person. Another one who wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

When the silence continued for too long, he answered. "Those low class bandits were a waste of money."

"As is almost everyone against Hatake." The tall man growled and suddenly dropped the Kubikiribōchō, it buried itself in the ground. "I will go after him and the old man."

"I suppose you won't fail?"

 _Bad move._ The giant sword dragged a long line over his foot. Blood made its way between his toes, warm and sticky.

Zabuza looked him straight in the eyes "I am the Demon of the Mist, do not forget that."

He turned around, swung his weapon over his shoulder and walked out the room. Gato let out a shaky breath before letting a smirk slip on his face. Soon he would be able to finish what he had started. He looked at the door again and noticed that the white spot was gone as well.

"Rest in peace, pesky Konoha nin." He grinned "Or should I say, Rest in pieces!"

He burst out laughing.


	12. Demon VS Cat

"Sensei?"

Ryuya looked up from her stack of notes, fiddling with her pen. The girl had been learning and revising her knowledge of Konoha's history in a corner of Ibiki's office. Ibiki remembered that when he was supposed to learn those facts, the war broke out and so he had learned the history on the battlefield and through speeches.

"Yes?"

"Will Chi be alright?" She started drawing circles on her paper.

Ibiki stopped his work and looked back at his student. "Why do you ask?"

Ryuya shrugged "I just feel... uneasy."

Ibiki narrowed his eyes. Shinji's head popped up from the entrance of the door "Yeah me too."

She had learned to enhance her senses and had some free time so she decided to try and see if she could hear the history facts Ryuya would mutter under her breath from the hallway. Until now she had heard a few words and guessed the rest of the sentence, but she doubted that 'The First Hokage was an avid gambler' was true. The man was a legend, surely he would spend his time playing Shogi or writing some super complicated theory instead of wasting his money.

"You look pretty tense too, sensei. And you have been looking around for no reason all day."

Ryuya looked surprised and now both were looking at him, demanding an answer of some sort. Ibiki hesitated, his own nerves _had_ been bugging him for a while now. It was as if something was happening right behind his back. He could almost see it from the corner of his eye but when he turned, it was never there. He flexed his hand, the stamp he was holding got damaged in his tight hold. _My chakra is surging for no reason._ He was puzzled.

"I... I think she will be fine. She is a tough one. Besides, Kakashi is with her, she'll be as safe as she could be." He eventually replied.

"Ah yes, about that." Shinji walked in the room and Ibiki forgot his worries. Right now, his self-proclaimed successor formed the greatest problem. He already dreaded her next words.

"Did you make up to her?"

"Huh?"

She rolled her eyes and he could swear he heard Ryuya sigh.

"You made her mad, right?" Shinji put her hands on her waist, looking every bit like a scolding parent. "Did you apologize?"

Ibiki hoped that no one was near to see this. He, The Scariest Jonin of Konoha according to Shinobi Go!, was being corned by his two tiny students. He cleared his throat.

"Yes. I went to visit her before she left."

Shinji arched an eyebrow "Did you actually say 'Sorry'?"

"No-" Shinji took a deep breath, "I gave her my blood as a token of apology!" He hurried.

Both girls looked at him. "You did?"

"Yes." _Crisis averted._

Ryuya seemed happy and smiled at him. Shinji was about to say something when she froze and gasped. She stood straight and spread her arms in revelation.

"What if that is the reason?!"

Ibiki managed to catch his paper before the burst of chakra blew it off the table. Ryuya jumped in shock and her notes fell to the ground in a heap. They heard a couple of screams from down the hallway, crying about their eyes.

"W-what was that?" Shinji looked at her hands as if she had never seen them before. _I never had that much chakra before._

"Sensei?" He looked at the blue-haired girl in the corner. Her hands were shaking. He squinted at her wrist, the angry red/brown scars seemed smaller and lighter.

Ibiki looked at the stamp that was still in his now clenched fist. He opened his fist and the wooden stamp fell on his table. He stared at it.

It was broken in half.

Shinji gulped "What if the blood connects us to Chi?"

Ibiki stood up, sending his chair clashing against the wall. He turned and looked. _I involuntarily used chakra again._ He looked at his two students. Both were still rooted on their spot, looking confused and scared. He grabbed his coat and put it on while marching to the door.

"We're going to the Hokage."

 _Land of Waves, the previous night~_

It was cold, Tazuna convinced himself. That is why he was shivering. Not because of the impending doom, but because it was cold. In the middle of summer. While he was sweating. In his T-shirt.

Yep. Just the cold.

He glanced at his shinobi companions. The four kids were perched on a side each, eyes drooping but still holding up the pretense of being alert. It was almost endearing how they tried to act like they were actually capable of seeing something in the thick mist. Even Yellow-eyes was squinting. Color-changing eyes or not, they were not very useful. He dared to peek at the Jonin. His shock of gray hair matched the view and his single eye was focused on the orange book. How he could even read it in the dark (or how he got promoted to Jonin) was a mystery.

Tazuna stared down in the water. His reflection was dark and hardly clear but it managed to reflect the self-loathing and fear perfectly. This was his fault. He brought it upon himself and now he was going to get himself and these kids killed. His grandson would be ashamed.

"Almost there."

The croaky voice made all of them look up. The local ferryman initially tried to brush them off by evoking their pity, but somewhere along the line of his description of his bad back and how his life insurance wasn't enough for his family to live from, he caught the eyes of the dark haired girl. She looked back, unblinking with those disturbingly yellow eyes. They were all seated on a ramshackle boat with the instructions to 'stay still and don't move unless you want to end as seafood' in five minutes. No one appreciated the wordplay.

He peered in the mist. His eyes weren't as good as they used to be but he did managed to spot a dark shape in the distance. The shape grew. A triumphant smile formed on his lips.

"Sensei, we arrived."

His smile died on his face. The pink haired brat yawned and poked her teacher. He looked around to see all four kids staring at the same spot as if they had seen it a long time ago. _They probably had._ He thought bitterly.

They got off the boat, payed and watched as the ferryman sped away in the darkness. _So much for a bad back._ Sakura shook her head and followed her team and client in the dark forest. She was too tired to be afraid of the haunting trees and shrieking animals. She just wanted a nice, warm bed and the promise of a good morning shower. She stretched, oblivious to the watching eyes up in the trees.

Naruto nudged her and offered a cracker. She smiled and accepted, much to the delight of the blond. Her animosity towards him was pretty much gone and replaced with the beginnings of a quirky friendship. Naruto still had an obvious crush on her and wanted nothing more than a date with her, but he had toned his terrible flirting down.

 _It was nice._

Sakura looked over at their third teammate and sighed. Once she thought that he was everything a guy should be. Now he was still all that, but he lacked the heart. How she managed to miss that was a great mystery to her. Nevertheless, she hoped that one day he would look at her with something else than those onyx eyes blinded by hate. _Although, I have already seen that other look. That innocent, hurt child. Will he ever open up to us?_ The falling out today had made him even more silent than before.

Kakashi was feeling restless, all his instincts screamed at him to turn around and leave. He could hear the happy chatters from his students at the back. They hadn't sensed his nervousness and Kakashi was glad about that. Not only would it mean that he was loosing his touch, but it would make them jumpy and prone to causing accidents.

Tazuna was dragging his feet, trying to keep up with the group and receiving an occasional push from Chi, who was still guarding the rear. Her right sleeve was empty, her hand resting on something inside her haori. Her eyes gleamed a particular disturbing color of orange, casually scanning the surroundings and occasionally adding some words to the conversation between Sakura and Naruto. Kakashi wondered how many memories this environment brought back to her. He certainly had his own share of them.

Sasuke was lost in his own (dark) thoughts. Every time Naruto asked him a question, he would ignore him or sneer, making the blond puff his cheeks and turn away. He shook his head, not feeling up to chastising the boy. He had tried many times and punished him as well but nothing seemed to help. Sasuke was lost in his own hatred and willing to push away everything for the sake of killing his brother. Kakashi focused back on the road and the eyes staring at him.

Owls sat unmoving on a branch and turned their heads as they walked past. A fox scurried away, carrying a dead and bleeding rabbit in between his jaws. A woodpecker choose the tree closest to them to start digging a hole.

There was something else. Something lingered just in front of them, hiding carefully and not making a single sound.

It was coming for them. It was going to attack any minute now. Kakashi wanted to scream but as the only person in this group with a half decent skill set, he couldn't afford to. He still wanted to.

They walked most of the night until they reached a small village. Tazuna finally showed some backbone and led them to his shabby house. He knocked once, then again and Kakashi felt obliged to inform him of the time and that most people were asleep now. Still, he went for the third time but his fist hardly touched the wood when the door swung open (to the outside) and docked him straight on his fat nose. Naruto didn't bother to hide his laughter even as he sleepily clung to a too-exhausted-to-care Sasuke. Kakashi was pleasantly surprised.

Even more so when they were led to the second floor and he got a private room while the kids had to squeeze into one.

He was less pleased when a giant sword cut through the thin walls just _five_ minutes after he had finally closed his eyes. Kakashi jumped back and send a kunai in the darkness. He shot in his gear and jumped outside. The giant sword had vanished but the cut was as much evidence as any. And now there was a Kakashi shaped hole in it as well.

 _Meh, the Hokage will pay for it. Kami knows we did enough D-ranks to afford even the damage to my training ground._

He pushed his headband up and the world became much clearer. He saw the torrent of water coming at him before it was even created and quickly launched his own, using the water from the fog and the jug in his room. The two jutsu's clashed and fell to the ground.

"At last we meet, copy-cat Kakashi." A gravelly voice called out. A body emerged, tall, broad and dressed like a cow-zombie hybrid.

"Zabuza." _I just want to sleep._

The man stepped closer and squinted "So that is the famous Sharingan eye, huh? Konoha's prized possession."

He swung his overgrown abomination of a sword off his shoulder and pointed at the tired Jonin. "I wonder if I could implant it in myself, see what it can do."

 _You don't know?_ "You don't know?"

"Look where I live."

"I see."

Zabuza grinned and dissolved into a puddle of water even though Kakashi already knew he would. He also knew that he was going to reappear behind him but that didn't stop him from feeling jumpy when the demon spoke close to his ear.

"Where did you hide your kids?"

 _That son of a_ "They are somewhere you can't reach." _pineapple in ramen!_ Kakashi leaned back far enough for the other man to recoil.

"Are you going for a back hug?" He whispered, because if anyone knew how to be a total pain in the rear, it was Kakashi.

Zabuza growled and the blade slid straight through him, except it wasn't really him but a water clone. Zabuza's face was priceless and Kakashi snickered in a shadow. 

He would have had trouble with the man on bright daylight and at night he also had to make sure no one woke up. It didn't really matter if the Genin woke up but one, they would get in the way and two, Sasuke would see his Sharingan. So he was stuck fighting silently. To use the words of any Nara: It was a drag.

They fought for at least two hours. High-level jutsu's destroyed the ground, made them grit their teeth. Kakashi grunted as he caught the weight of the Kubikiribōchō with his kunai. The massive blade almost cut straight through it. He was growing tired. The close-calls were growing more frequent, his average chakra reserves weren't enough to fight after such a long day.

There was a faint whistle in the background. Both Kakashi and Zabuza stopped for a moment. Then Zabuza started to grin. Kakashi was tense. More signatures had arrived. The whistle grew louder and a white object blurred into view. A small cloud of glittering needles came straight at him, but he didn't have to dodge. Chi flickered in front of him, her weapon spinning like a shield in front of her. The senbon fell to the ground without doing any harm.

"Sensei!"

Naruto's shout was accompanied with the orange-clad boy. He ran up to them and send five kunai flying at the same time Zabuza saw him. Kakashi's warning shout froze in his throat as a water-clone appeared and separated the boy's head right from his neck. Naruto looked Kakashi straight in the eye for one horrible second, and poofed away.

Later on Kakashi would never be able to tell them what he felt at that moment. He would never admit that he lost control like that and why he did. All his students could tell was that he suddenly turned on his heels, grabbed the bandaged man with the giant sword and disappeared in the dark woods.

The four Genin were left on their own against the masked figure. Sasuke was half in shock from seeing the red Sharingan spinning in his teacher's eye, but he had to put the questions on hold because the the figure started to make sign. The water left behind from the fight rose and chased them until they were standing next back to back with each other. Large mirrors formed all around them. Sakura bit back her fear and fired a kunai at one, intending to shatter it. Instead it fell down without doing any damage.

Chi was cursing her luck, her chakra was more than enough but she had been unable to drink some blood because she was rooming with the other Genin. She was unable to use most of her clan's jutsu's. Next to her, Naruto had no such problem and was itching to do something. The masked figure appeared in one of the mirrors.

"Do not fight. I do not want to kill you." The voice was soft and almost friendly.

Naruto scoffed. "As if you could!"

As a response, he got five senbon to the chest. The clone disappeared again. Chi groaned and replaced it.

"Idiot." Sasuke cursed the boy.

 _Naruto. Stay in the shadows, find a weak spot._ Chi had to admit her mental communication had seen better days but she was low on blood. The response was just as croaky.

 _Got it. What about sensei?_

"Guys," she hissed out loud, "what about Kakashi sensei?"

"I'm sure he is fine." Sakura wished she felt as sure as her words. She wished she had stayed behind to guard the house and family. When they had proposed the idea she had felt indignant and now she was stuck in a life threatening situation. She hadn't trained enough for this!

"Get the dobe to send a clone after him. Just to be sure." Sasuke stepped forward but had to retreat immediately. A needle buried itself in the ground.

 _Naruto, make at least twenty clones, transform them into us and send one team after sensei._

 _S-sure. Ey, take care alright? I'm here to fight when you need me._

 _Got it. Thanks pal._

Chi turned the communication off. She was thirsty. The pulses of her teammates were drums to her. She focused, heard another one. On impulse, she made the wave even larger. She sensed the strong beat of Naruto, hiding in the bushes. Even further she felt two different beats moving quickly around each other. It was feint and she couldn't tell which one belonged to who. There was a slight disturbance as Naruto made his clones and the forest filled with more drums.

She turned her attention back to the glass mirrors. She had enough to pull off some jutsu, it would drain her reserves but it was useful. The opponent was using the mirrors to move around, but that didn't mean he had no pulse. Her own pulse was slowing down like she had trained to do. Her eyes flared, a feint ring appearing. It was the infamous eye that had send her clan in many arguments with the Hyuuga in the past. It allowed the user to see the veins and heart of the opponent. Chi hadn't trained enough and had no affinity to it but she could at least see the feint outlines.

She scanned the surroundings until she spotted a light spot. Not missing a beat, she send a kunai at the mirror above them. The light moved away in a blink. Chi cursed and searched again. Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye. The masked figure reappeared in another mirror.

 _How is she doing that?_ He gritted his teeth. Chi paid him no attention and continued to search. Her focus was growing less and less. She managed another shot and then lowered her head. Her head throbbed and she massaged her eyes. Next to her, Sakura's eyes widened.

"Sasuke-kun!" She reached for him as the boy himself noticed the danger.

No less than ten senbon flew towards him. His breath hitched, memories flashed by. _Is this how I die?_

Itachi stood in front of him, hand outstretched. His fingers reached for his eyes. Sasuke wanted to scream but he was frozen. Chakra raced through his body. The world distorted and faded before turning crystal-clear. His hands moved on his own and his fireball jutsu burned the needles mid-flight.

It was quiet for a moment. Sakura's hand was millimeters away from his shoulder. Her face was pale. Sasuke looked at his reflection with his red eyes. His lips curled in a smile that was more manic than he would admit. _Finally! I have awoken the Sharingan!_

Chi felt the next attack before she saw it and pushed her teammates out of the way. Her veins pulsed but she had to preserve her blood. She got rid of the Naruto-clone.

"Head in the game, Uchiha!" She growled at the dazed Sasuke. He snapped up and scowled before stepping forward.

"You can leave, I can take i-"

Both Sakura and Chi hit him over the head. Sakura immediately retracted her hand in shock but Chi bared her teeth.

"You are not even half as strong as him! The Sharingan isn't worth a dime if you can't use it." She turned to the foe that was waiting patiently. Sasuke fumed, pulling out three kunai.

"Show us your face." She demanded.

"I can not. I am to remain a shadow." The voice was as friendly as before.

Sasuke didn't care for conversation. He jumped forward and send three kunai in quick succession, ignoring the angry shouts from his teammate. He was going to show them, show everyone, just how much the Sharingan was worth.

 _In the forest_

Kakashi was sure that he had hit the other man. Zabuza was at a disadvantage here, without a big enough source of water nearby. The copy-cat kept steering them away from where he knew was one. The fact that Zabuza went along could best be blamed on Kakashi's sudden berserker rage.

He had long since calmed down for the sake of his- lack of- chakra reserves, but every sighting of Zabuza made his heart beat faster in anger. Kakashi jumped on a branch and crouched. His eyes narrowed as he searched for a flak of white. He needed to end this fight soon and get back to the kids he left behind.

Unbeknown to him, one of those kids was just five trees to his left. Naruto had gathered a group of his clones around him and send a copy of their team out to create some distraction. He giggled despite his nerves, Zabuza was going to flip when he thought that his teammate was defeated!

The fake-team set out and appeared in Kakashi's view. The Jonin nearly tumbled out of the tree. _Did they defeat that masked man?!_ Kakashi's Sharingan spun and revealed the culprit concealed behind a large branch. _Naruto... Good plan but it won't work for long._

 __No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he felt the ground rumble in a shock wave. Leaves fell down around him. He took the risk and made his way to the epicenter. He jumped and ran until the scent of burning wood reached his nose. The explosion had torn several large oaks oaks from their roots and left a proper crater in the middle. There was no sign of Zabuza or Naruto. At least, not anymore.

He landed on the edge of the hole and inspected one of the fallen trees.. There was a sliver of white fabric hanging from the jagged end. A smile fought its way up Kakashi's lips. Naruto must have gotten the man almost point blanc.

A rustling near the bushes made him duck for cover. He crouched behind the massive trunk, the back of his mind wondering what the Hell Naruto had used to do this type of damage.

"Kakashi!" The grating voice of his opponent rang out. "I send your brat away, so come out!"

The seriously over-sized weapon pointed at his general direction. _Guess I have to face him head on._ Kakashi sighed and rose to his feet, feeling more exhausted than his expression let on. The sight of Zabuza's torn clothes was worth the effort.

"Had an accident?" Kakashi tilted his head, taking pleasure in the way the demon's veins popped out.

"You'll pay for this."

"Sure."

"I'll kill you."

"Whatever you say."

Zabuza charged forwards and struck. Kakashi retreated, jumping backwards on branches to avoid getting sliced. The trees fell down as the heavy blade cut through them. _Just a little more._ Kakashi flickered away right before the other man reached him.

He reappeared behind him and tried to get a kunai between his ribs, but Zabuza already turned and swung Kubikiribōchō in a broad circle around him. Kakashi ducked and used lack of defense to stab a kunai in the man's thigh. Zabuza howled in pain and pushed his sword straight through the back of Kakashi.

The clone popped and the real Kakashi winced. He was tired and needed some good night's rest. Not that there was much night left. He could see the sky growing lighter. Zabuza must have been tired as well because he stood bent over for a while, clutching the bleeding wound. The kunai laid on the ground, the end dyed with clotted blood. _Seems like the poison worked._

Kakashi had won.

 _Back at the kids~_

Sakura gritted her teeth and sent another kunai at the reflection in the mirror. Their attacks had been futile and only resulted in them getting stabbed. Naruto had caused some distraction from the outside by throwing paint and bombs around them, but the mirrors remained unscathed.

Sasuke was furious. He had the prized Sharingan and it was useless! His attacks were faster than his teammates but didn't hit the opponent. He needed to fight, he needed the practice. He wiped the sweat off his chin, he was at least going last longer than Chi. She was still going just as strong as the beginning.

"Don't you know any jutsu?" He hissed at her when she sent another kunai.

Chi jumped to avoid a swarm of senbon. "None of them are effective." _Give me your blood and I'll show you._

"Tch," Sasuke smirked "so much for the famed Ketsueki clan."

"Says who? I didn't see you land any attacks, or use anything other than that useless fireball."

Sasuke wanted to reply but was cut off by a gasp from the masked individual, who was currently on his right. Sakura took the time to catch her breath and asked

"What's wrong?"

The figure seemed distraught. "My master... I need to go to him."

"Not before we finish this fight!" Sasuke growled.

"This fight is already over." The white mask looked straight at him.

One second everything was paused and then senbon flew at them from all angles. They each hit a sensitive spot. The Genin stood frozen for a second. Naruto in bushes held his breath. Sakura was the first to collapse, her eyes were closed before she even hit the ground. Sasuke was next, falling to his side like a boneless doll. Chi grunted, moved one leg and fell to her knees. Her dark eyes found the blue ones before her head dropped. She slumped and remained still on her knees.

The mirrors fell down and the masked figure sped away, leaving Naruto. The blond staggered to his friends, shaking them. His hands patted their cheeks, he shouted their names but there was no reaction. He lifted Chi's chin and found the dark red eyes looking at him glassily. _Are they turning black?_

Heat exploded in his veins. The blue turned red, the whisker marks grew ragged and deeper. The fox had gained the upper hand.

Naruto growled and roared. His bones stretched and his nails grew. He wanted blood. The rage and pain from his life boiled in his stomach and filled his vision with red. He was going to kill the masked figure and Zabuza. His blood raged and thundered in his head. A hot, scorching fog spread over the place. The villagers dreamed of murder and demons that night.

While Naruto raged, something happened to Chi as well. The blood that connected them clawed at the insides of the girl. Her eyes flashed and rapidly turned from red to yellow. In her mind she saw the murder of her clan. She knew why, how and what role she had played that day and night.

 _It was great._

She fell to her hands, remaining like that for a while before pain entered her mind. A long moan escaped her as she writhed over the ground. Pain ran through her body, replacing every sane thought. She wanted to drink like that time. She could smell the blood from the young bodies next to her.

 _So much to drink.._

Her hand reached for one body. She licked her lips, feeling her teeth sharpen. There was more blood nearby. She grinned, saliva coating her lips. Something lifted her up from the ground. Chi hung in the air, dazed and confused. _Drink?_

"Sleep, kid. I got you." A male voice spoke, memories flashed and she obeyed.

Kakashi sighed in relief. When he had arrived back here, it was to the scene of his nightmares. Naruto was clawing at the ground like a wild beast, looking more like a fox than a human. Ibiki's student was crawling around emitting a foul chakra that gave the fox's intent a sour undertone. His own two students were unconscious _(or dead)_ on the ground.

He raced to the blond and forced him to look in the Sharingan. He could feel the pull of the demon fox but refused to give in. It took nearly all his remaining energy to cast a Genjutsu on the two. Naruto became limp and the strong aura receded. He covered his Sharingan again, laying the boy gently on the ground.

Kakashi turned around and saw Chi reached for Sasuke's wrist.His heart skipped a beat.

He picked her up from the ground, trying to get eye contact with the yellow eyes. The color was paler than he remembered, the pupils small and unseeing. He stood there for a second, not knowing how to deal with this. In the end he called out a simple command and the girl fell asleep. He put her down and went to tend to his other students.

Both were still alive though pretty banged up. He pulled the needles out of them and gathered both in his arms. He went to get the other two and made his way back to the house with more effort than he liked. Luckily, Tazuna's daughter was awake and hiding in the kitchen with a knife. Upon seeing their battered state, she quickly went to help him with the students. They worked in silence as they put all four in their futons. Kakashi thanked the girl as she left.

He sighed and stretched himself on the ground between the window and the kids. When they entered the room with the sleeping forms, it had been a mess. Clothes laying around haphazardly, a toothbrush on the window sill, a potted plant fallen over and soil spilled on Sasuke's blanket. It was still there by the way.

He yawned and curled up, feeling his muscles ache and his eye throb. The sun was already rising above the horizon but he was sure that he would sleep for days. Perhaps his dreams would help him formulate a plan to deal with these new developments.

 _If only I was that lucky._


	13. Bad blood

The morning after the fight proved to be a tough one. Kakashi liked to compare it to a hangover only he had never been this bruised after a night out, not even with Anko.

It all started when they woke up at seven in the morning to the angry face of a short kid. Later on, they learned that that kid was Tazuna's grandson Inari and things did not improve.

Naruto and Sakura both exploded in rage after the kid decided to douse them in ice water and Naruto almost punched him after he claimed that hero's didn't exist. After a truly inspiring (and a tad heartbreaking to Kakashi) speech from the blond, Sasuke privately- and dramatically- announced that he had gained his clan's prized dojutsu (and had probably already formulated five different ways to kill his brother) and Kakashi just wanted to return to his bed.

It took him a staggering five minutes of talking and veiled threatening to convince the Uchiha not to use it without supervision. Sasuke had then wandered off to sulk and glare. Feeling like she needed to step in, Sakura informed her sensei that they had already made that clear the previous night. The Sharingan hadn't worked that well for them and Chi had given him a scolding.

She conveniently left out the fact that they had both whacked his head because he was being arrogant again. Not that Kakashi would have minded if he knew. Tough love, as they say.

"Alright," Kakashi stood straight despite the lack of caffeine, alcohol or chakra in his system "we ( _you)_ need to continue building this bridge. Gather up and meet me outside in five."

Some grunts were his reply. It was more than he had expected, he realized. _How sad._

The four students went in search of their weapons and right toothbrushes. Kakashi looked at the skinny back of Inari. _I guess I should clear things up._

In true fashion, he flickered right beside him and gave a salute "Yo." _That might not have been the best decision given that I have crutches and zero chakra._

Nevertheless, Inari gave the perfect response and fell in the water.

After the Jonin hoisted him back on the wooden plateau, he sat him down and explained. "Naruto believes in hero's because it is his dream to become one. He grew up alone, no one in the village accepted him. He acts out, wears orange and pulls pranks to get attention, even if it is negative attention. He wants to be a hero because he needs one."

Or something along those lines, he wasn't sure anymore.

"But hero's don't exist. They are just stupid people who are trying to get killed!" The fight had left the boy. Inari's shoulders were slumped. Kakashi smiled.

"I believe that Naruto will change that view." _Whoops, I said it._ Kakashi's eye-smile hid the fact that he started sweating. _I said it out loud, now I have to make it come true. Darn it._

"Sensei!"

He turned to see Sakura waving at him. Ever since he woke up to his students' great relief, and announced that Zabuza was probably still alive, she had been fidgeting. According to Tazuna, Sakura had researched herbs on her own to try and get his chakra levels up. She had plowed through scrolls and books from her teammate and from the incredibly small library in town.

In the end she concocted a brown, grass scented liquid that tasted like hazelnuts. Kakashi had been wary and he would have attempted to throw it away, but even the slightest signal of hesitation had put a damper on her mood.

So when she looked away, he yanked his masks down and gulped it all down. He was pleased (and mostly relieved) to find out that it had a warming effect on his body, though it did not help with his chakra. He told her that and patted her head. She hadn't stopped beaming since, nor had she stopped experimenting with potions. Kakashi feared for his life.

"We are waiting for you!"

"Yeah," Naruto chimed in "you're late again!"

Kakashi smiled "Alright, alright. Have some mercy on this old man."

"That is an old man," Naruto pointed at the sleeping figure of Tazuna "You are barely thirty."

Kakashi sighed and got up, purposefully leaning in to Inari. "Let's get going then, we are already behind schedule."

"Yeah and whose fault is that?"

 _Kids... Aren't they lovely?_

Three days of work later, Naruto luckily seemed to have forgotten about the fox nearly escaping his abdomen and was distracted by the argument with Inari. That was the only good thing that had come out of it. Another bad thing was that Kakashi's body was so drained of overusing the Sharingan, that he was walking with a crutch and had a massive headache.

During this mess, no one noticed how Chi covered her nose and mouth. She leaned against the frame of the door, rubbing her wrists and watching the scene. Her body felt like someone had injected fire into her veins. At the same time she had never felt this strong before.

It was as if a fog had cleared before her eyes even though they were drooping. The braces were tight and uncomfortable. The humid and hot air made her skin itchy and raw because of her scratching.

She had dreamed about Konoha those past nights. Konoha with empty streets and destroyed houses. Red paint decorated the ruins, dripping slowly on heaps of limps peaking out from corners. She was above it all, flew over the remains.

Chi had wandered all over the town, discovering every body, every house. She woke peacefully, as if she hadn't had a nightmare, with the taste of blood on her tongue.

If anything, that had disturbed her the most.

 _At the working site~_

Sasuke decided that he had seen enough Naruto's for the rest of his life. They were everywhere, along with multiple Chi's, running about in that hideous orange suit. He grunted as he lifted another load of bricks on the cart.

 _If only I could use that Shadow Clone jutsu. Damn Kakashi._ The Jonin had flat out forbidden him to attempt it, never mind teaching him. Apparently it was a kinjutsu you could only perform with enough chakra, something only those two had.

It was true, that was the worst part. Neither Naruto nor Chi seemed bothered by the large amounts of clones they had summoned. If one popped, it was replaced with another one. They transformed themselves, performed jutsu's and lifted heavy objects.

It was infuriating. Especially since _he_ was still feeling a bit sore from the fight, but those two acted like they had been resting for weeks. Top it off, he wasn't even allowed to use his Sharingan.

 _Soon. I'll master the eyes and then I'll show them. Once I reach Konoha, I am going to the Hokage and find out how Kakashi got the Sharingan. If he stole them..._ Sasuke stopped working, the thought alone was enough to make his blood boil. He felt his chakra rushing to his eyes.

 _I'll kill him._

"Oi kid, watch it!"

He ducked in time to avoid a large wooden balk hitting his head. Sasuke scowled and resumed his work.

Chi watched him from afar. She could still feel the burning in her veins, the longing for blood. She needed to remind herself to bring a flask with her on future missions. She turned and lifted the buckets with plaster to bring to the group working on reinforcing the bridge.

It would have probably taken weeks to complete it, but now that there were so many extra hands, it would only take another day. She swayed as she reached the group, the buckets weren't filled equally.

 _Give me..._

She stopped for a moment, tilting her head to the side before continuing. The voice paused for heartbeat before continuing.

 _Give me..._

Chi clenched her jaw. _Shut up!_

 _Blood..._

Her head pounded as the bodies came closer. She was parched and had been for the past days. Fresh blood surrounded her day and night. She could have gotten anyone. Instead she endured and requested for to go and catch her own meals. Kakashi had made some excuses and gave a roundabout explanation about her 'condition' to prevent an insult to the hosts.

So she went out and killed small rodents and caught fish, just like she used to do after losing her clan. The animals had blood but no chakra flowing through them. She drank merely for the taste and to soothe her throat. It wasn't enough either, there were hardly any animals here and the fish were too quick and experienced in escaping hunters.

 _I can see their veins._

She averted her eyes.

 _They are good for nothing. You did all the work!_

They also relied on her for protection. Chi gulped and winced when she realized how dry her throat was.

 _How can you protect them like this?_

No one would see her if she took one man aside, she reasoned. The roles had switched, how frustrating.

 _No, you can't._

It wasn't as if there weren't enough workers.

 _You cannot._

It was hot, the braces were burning on her skin. Memories of the cave played out in her head.

 _You were able to drink there. No one minded._ The roles switched back.

Chi grunted as she took another step. Her mouth was dry, her stomach empty. They had been working for the entire day. She was vaguely aware of her clones nearing her. The thirst and desire was radiating from their bodies.

The men were so close to her. Just one step and she could slit a throat, stab someone's artery or twist a limp off. The one in front of her was a big guy, with bulging muscles. His veins were swollen against his arms and neck. It looked so appetizing.

One of them noticed her and told his friends, including the big guy. No one had noticed the blood lust in her eyes yet. The buckets slipped from her hand, planting themselves in the soil.

 _Go!_

Their veins pulsed. One of them complained about a headache, the other was dizzy. A small cut on the cheek of another man started bleeding, much more than it should have.

 _Almost there. I can almost use that-_

"Hey, can you give me a hand."

Chi froze. Sakura was standing at her side, smiling innocently. "I have to get these bricks to where Sasuke-kun is, but there are too many of them."

She was tired, Chi noted. She saw the stacks of red brick behind the other girl. _That is a lot to carry, even for us._

There was a pressure behind Chi's eyes, the edges of her view started to blur. "Suree..."

Sakura frowned "What? Are you oka- Oi, Chi!"

Chi fell down like a puppet cut loose of its strings. Sakura managed to catch her and slowly lowered her to the ground.

"Sensei!"

Sakura carefully turned her around, supporting Chi's upper body with her own. The girl was unconscious and pale, her lips dry and cracked. She reached to get a pulse but Kakashi beat her to it. He had looked up in alarm when he heard the cries from all around him. The Chi-clones all popped, leaving various tools and material to drop on the ground and some toes.

He crouched down next to the pair to grab her wrist and simultaneously check her temperature.

"She fainted." Kakashi concluded. _What happened?_ "Sakura!"

"Yes?" The pinkette's expression was tight.

"What did Chi do against Zabuza's friend?"

Sakura tried to recall the events. "Nothing special, she couldn't get a hit at him. She did get close once though."

 _Nothing huh. I doubt that this is nothing._ "I guess she is just exhausted then. I'll take her back-she will be fine, Naruto!"

He lifted the girl away from the blond with his prying hands. "Keep working, you are now down on men."

Naruto waved it away "No worries sensei, I'll just make twice as many clones!"

 _Yeah, you would._ Kakashi shook his head and took off as an army of blond ninja's started appearing. The nightmares would follow him for days.

"I'll get Chi back to the house. I'll be back soon and I expect to see some improvement!" Kakashi called out. Chi was slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he hobbled down the muddy road. Sakura's plea to carry her properly fell on to deaf ears.

His crutch sank deep in the soft ground and he was beyond happy when they finally reached solid ground. The girl hadn't stirred for a moment so she couldn't have been that uncomfortable.

Tazuna's daughter rushed out of the door when she looked up from her cleaning to see the Jonin carrying a limp figure. Kakashi allowed her to take Chi in her arms and watched her struggle with the weight of the tall Genin.

Once they all got inside, Kakashi helped tucking her in and decided to examine Chi using his limited medical knowledge. Their hostess left beforehand to continue with her work, confident that the shinobi would survive.

Kakashi frowned and folded the blanket back. Chi laid still, chest rising with every breath. He started by lifting her eyelids and examining the color of her eye. _I have never seen that before._ He twisted above her to get a better view. _I need some sort of guide for her eyes. What the heck does orange mean?_

With a sigh he released her eye. Time for the rest. He took her pulse again, listened to any irregularities in her breath and searched her for any form of injury. There was nothing. _And yet she collapsed._

He sniffed the air and concluded that the scent was indeed different. He peeked at his pseudo-student. _How creepy would it be to smell her?_

Very creepy, he decided. _Good thing she's sleeping._ He leaned forward until he could feel her breath on his cheekbone. He pulled his masks below his nose and inhaled the scent. The air in the country was humid and hot, it smelled mostly like salt, sweat and fish. Konoha's scent was like freshly mowed grass, with hints of tobacco and gunpowder. Chi smelled like a very specific type of rose that only grew near the Ketsueki clan.

It was a beautiful flower, large and elegant. The petals did not have that special red color. They were nearly black, with the color of rust near the edges. It was said that the clan did not use water, they actually used the blood of their heroes.

Kakashi had heard countless stories of how the Ketsueki would drain the bodies of a clan hero, and preserve the blood in special barrels kept in an underground cellar. By giving the roses blood instead of water, they believed that their heroes' spirit would remain forever.

 _I believe they called that rose a 'Chi'._

A fitting name for the Genin. Chi smelled exactly like a rose fed with so much blood that it would bleed when cut off its stem. The scent brought him back to those countless battlefields, ground red with the blood of his foes.

Back to the many missions as an ANBU, when his white mask would change its color. Most of all, like blood always did, it brought him back to when his entire hand was dripping with the blood of his teammate.

Kakashi pulled away and covered his nose again. He may have always dismissed the rumors about the Ketsueki clan as simple urban legends from fearful peasants, even he couldn't deny that when one was near, it became nearly impossible to keep the bad memories out. They had that kind of effect on anyone.

 _I'd best get going._

He did not have enough chakra to summon one of his ninken to stand on guard. _Whatever she has,_ i _t'll have to wait until we reach Konoha. Hopefully she will be recovered by then._

His eye caught a faint glint on her neck. He reached out and pulled her haori aside. Chi wore a fitting top underneath, he already knew that from when she had offered Sakura her haori to cover herself after a heavy rain yesterday. The heavy belt and chains linked to her neck-brace and legs were new. He held his hand above them, reaching out with his senses.

 _The metal is chakra-conducting._

When he had heard of the situation of Team 11, he actually contemplated sending one of his ninken after them. Just to be sure they would survive. He didn't do it. His own team was too much of a burden already, he couldn't take on another one. Besides, it seemed that Ibiki had warmed up to the girls and vice versa.

 _Was I selfish?_

He knew very well that he should have been given Chi in his team instead of Sakura. It would only make sense to have such a strong fighter on a heavy assault team. Still, he was glad it turned out like this. He doubted that the darkness following the girl would have any positive effect on the already angst-ridden boys, never mind his own sanity. _Whatever is left of it anyway._

Kakashi sighed and fixed the girl's clothes and blanket. He couldn't wait to go home.

"I'll be off then. Take care."

He walked past the young mother, who had moved to the backyard for some more cleaning, and stepped outside without waiting for a reply. The air wasn't fresh, it didn't do anything to improve his mood. Kakashi planted his crutch in front of him. He could handle it.

It was late in the afternoon when he returned to the site and continued supervising the team. Naruto had outdone himself with his work and even looked tired. The bridge looked nearly done. When the clock turned seven in the evening, they called it a day and returned.

Naruto bounded up ahead and the prospect of food but came to a sudden halt just a few steps away from the garden. Kakashi felt his heart skip and expanded his senses.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Sakura looked around, clutching a kunai. The wariness Iruka spent so much time beating it them, had ingrained itself after just one encounter with the Demon of the Mist.

"Something smells strange." The boy squinted and went to sniff the trees nearby.

Kakashi made a mental note to train that out of him. There could be an enemy hiding there and Naruto was standing so close! Sasuke was staring at the woods with an intensity that made him wonder if he was using the Sharingan. He stepped closer and watched the boy flinch and relax his posture.

"Come here. There is nothing." _Nothing to worry about yet._

Naruto send one more suspicious glance at the woods but obeyed. The team entered the house and only Kakashi waited for a moment outside the door, staring at the trees.

 _Someone had been here._

He made sure to lock the door.

"Sensei?" Sakura padded up to him, looking worried. "Chi hasn't woken up yet."

 _Damn._ "Don't worry Sakura. Chi will recover." He smiled.

"If you say so sensei." She turned to launch herself in another argument with Naruto about healthy food.

 _Sometimes this blind trust they have in me really hurts._

Dinner was spent in relative peace. Inari made a point of sitting next to Naruto and the whole house was delighted to see Genin acknowledge the boy with a smile. Kakashi and Sakura went up later on to try and get some fluids in Chi. The girl hadn't moved at all and he managed to lift her in his lap, her head lolling to his shoulder. Her body was cold and stiff.

 _Almost like the dead._

It was only his prior knowledge of the clan's peculiarities that kept him from racing back to Konoha with the girl on his back.

 _When they collapse, whether from exhaustion or injury, the body will turn to a state similar to rigour mortis. In simpler terms: they turn rigid and their body temperature will lower. Do not give up on the (medical) treatment for this is only a state of preservation to them._

Of course, Sakura did not know this- just like she had no clue of what her teammate's favorite drink was. Kakashi wasn't planning on revealing it any time soon either. He helped forcing Chi's jaw open and nudged her head towards the waiting spoonful of gray liquid.

He had personally supervised Sakura as she made it and he had absolutely no idea how it turned out like this. It was supposed to be the liquid version of a food-pill.

Sakura slowly fed her the potion and made her swallow it by lifting her chin. A shudder went through Chi's body, the biggest sign of live yet, but nothing else happened.

"Well then. Let's go downstairs again. We need to discuss our plan for when Zabuza reappears."

Sakura bit her lip "Will be alright without Chi? Most of our advantage came from her-"

"Because Zabuza had never dealt with someone like her before." Kakashi tucked the blanket around the said girl. "We will be fine, Sakura. I will protect you with my life."

Her eyes widened and a rosy blush appeared on her cheeks. She seemed to struggle with replying and so Kakashi send her off with a gentle push. The kids could sleep in his room, he wanted to keep an eye on Chi.

Night fell soon enough and soon the noise of the day reduced to a soft hum. The residents of the house shifted, breathed deeply and sighed. Tazuna snored on occasion and then turned again, as if someone had conditioned him over the years. Kakashi laid on his back, hands folded behind his head.

Chi was on her side, facing him. The stiffness of her body had subsided sometime during the night and Kakashi was able to give her a natural position before the kids came in to look at her one more time. She still hadn't woken. The uneasiness on Naruto's face looked foreign and out of place.

The only one who didn't visit her was Sasuke. Kakashi didn't lower his opinion of him, he had seen the boy walk by the room more than enough. Despite his obvious dislike of her, he couldn't help but catch some of the nervousness from his teammates.

 _Tsundere..._ Kakashi smiled despite himself. He had to try and sleep but he was afraid that none of his dreams would be pleasant. He distracted himself by going over tactics and making up new training schedules. He had to get his team ready for the Chuunin Exams.

Sometime during his brainstorm session, sleep caught up with him and he didn't wake until the first rays of sunlight hit him.

 _The next day, around noon~_

"So, we have a plan right?" Pakkun growled, baring his tiny teeth in his cute little maw.

Kakashi felt like bashing his head in. The mist packed around them like a blanket. He heard Naruto groaning from somewhere. This was not going the way he liked it. His Sharingan was useless in this environment and he was sure that he could guess Sasuke's train of thought.

Nothing was more frustrating than having an amazing weapon, and not being able to use it. His ninken were already dispersed to keep civilians out of the fight and to keep an eye on his students.

He thought back of Sakura's words. They could really use Chi now. He gritted her teeth when Zabuza's laugh resounded. Naruto shouted something about _those stupid mirrors again_ and neither Sasuke or Sakura countered him. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, feeling his heart calm down. He was going to protect them no matter the price.

 _At the house, same time~_

When Chi woke, it was because a very high pitched scream pierced through the silence. Her eyes snapped open and her hands grabbed the edges of her futon. There was another scream and this one made her jump up. She looked around, she was in their bedroom. There was no sign of everyone else except for the very distressed woman.

Chi moved to the door, clutching the frame when a dizzy spell came over her. Her thirst was still there and the scent of blood called her. She checked her weapons sealed in her armor and chose her trusted kyoketsu-shoge.

She padded to the staircase and listened to the soft, muffled sobbing and the clutter of wood. A male voice spoke up, startling her. He was young and had an injury. Chi was pretty sure they didn't belong here.

She walked up the walls and carefully looked in the living room. Three thugs were scouring the house in a manner that broke everything in sight. Inari and his mother were tied and gagged, laying under the table. Chi looked at the thugs, no one had noticed her yet.

 _I need to get them away from them. Out of sight so I can-_ She shook her head and clutched the blade. Two of the thugs left the living room, probably going to check the kitchen and garden. It was almost too easy.

The blade shot out, the chain wrapped itself around the neck of the man and Chi stabbed her kunai in his back before he could shout. She paused when she landed, the sudden weight and extortion of energy nearly overwhelming her.

Inari and his mother were frozen in shock. Chi dragged the man to the hallway and kicked the door open. After tossing the thug down on his stomach, she took her weapons back. The blood pooled around him but she had enough in the kunai.

It was a special one, specifically designed for her clan. The entire blade was hollow and the tip had a small hole. The blood filled the kunai upon entering the body and the user could drink it, like Chi did. It warmed her body, send energy down to her legs and lifted her spirits instantly. She could have stood there forever, drinking until she was full but there was more to do.

She shot through the living room, cut the family loose, and entered the kitchen. Without waiting, she swung her blade, let the chain twist around his neck and buried the blade in the neck of the startled man. The Genin then pulled him outside and let him bleed out in the stream in the garden.

The last man was standing there, gawking. Chi was still high on the blood from the first man, so she grinned and stabbed her kunai in chest of the second one. Holding eye-contact, she pulled the weapon out and started sucking the blood out. The last man turned pale, then red and ran at her with a battle-cry.

The blade flickered in the light and a fountain of blood erupted from his neck. Chi watched the head fly through the air and hit a tree. Somewhere in her mind she hoped that mother and son had hidden themselves for the rest of the day.

She staggered, looked at the red blood spilled over the grass, glistering in the sunlight. Her mind didn't process the events that had preceded. Chi didn't care to wait for them to do. She neared the body and decided that she needed to gather all of them in one spot, hidden from civilian eyes and make good use of them.

All three bodies were gathered and dumped behind a big oak where she continued to drain them. The flora would look absolutely gorgeous next summer, she was sure of it. She drank as much as she could handle and then got up.

Her team was probably working on the bridge and if she was right then they could definitely use her help. She just hoped that there weren't going to be any more interruptions. The blood here didn't taste that nice and did not have enough chakra. Perhaps if it was Zabuza's blood. Or his companion's. 

_That would be nice._


	14. The Good Heart

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Not even the fog could shield them from the orange assault to the eyes, Sakura thought. One of the clones bumped into her and popped. Their 'prison' was too small for this many people.

Then again, that was the plan. She and Sasuke were huddled in the center, holding their weapons, to attack as soon as the opportunity arose. Naruto, meanwhile, made as many clones as possible to try and push the ice mirrors apart.

It wasn't working.

 _Yet,_ Sakura thought, _just keep believing._

It was getting hot in the middle and not the kind the pinkette had once (really _once_ ) imagined. Sakura wiped her hands on her shirt, wishing for Chi to be here. She never seemed to panic and had some dangerous techniques according to some books about her clan. Sakura had devoured them, finding it every bit as exciting as a horror movie. When she and Kakashi fed Chi, she noted how her sensei didn't let her touch the girl. Chi looked stiff and pale, probably why Sakura couldn't hold her.

The clones doubled and by now, she couldn't breathe anymore. Sasuke grunted as their backs pressed together. The clones were puffing, red in the face and limps overstretched. It lasted about five seconds before they all poofed away. Sakura was almost glad that it failed, at least she could breath.

When the smoke cleared, they were back at the beginning. It was beginning to feel hopeless. Naruto fell down among the senbon and landed on his butt, already familiar with that and thus immediately jumping back up.

"What is your big deal?!" He shouted, angrily. "You hold us here, not even fighting but not letting us go either!"

 _He had a point._ Even Sasuke had to admit.

Kakashi, from his spot further down the bridge, allowed himself to relax a tad bit at the gravelly sound of Naruto's voice. At least his kids were alive. Then he flinched and made an odd move that caught Zabuza by surprise. _They aren't MY kids, dammit!_

The figure- the kids had learned that his name was Haku- appeared in front of them. None of the trio tried attacking, they had also learned that Haku could move way too fast for that.

"I do not wish to kill you."

Naruto scowled "You can't kill me!"

"I believe I can."

 _Narutoooo._ Sakura panicked, if the boy kept provoking Haku, he might actually attack. Annoying as he could be, She would never wish for the boy to die. He had become way too much of a comrade to her.

"No, you can't. Believe it!" There was the catchphrase. It had been a while, Sakura noted.

"And why is that?" Haku inquired.

Naruto hesitated, a flash of darkness on his face, before he reverted to his 'not-thinking' style.

"Because people had already tried and failed!"

The sound of weapons clashing in the distance was worse than the silence. As if this confession didn't mean anything. It was just another part of the world they lived in. Sasuke felt his heart racing in his chest. The orange ninja stood in the center, shoulders hunched, arms and legs apart, ready for attack and defense.

He couldn't see his eyes, but Sasuke was sure that they were burning with an intensity he had seen only once before. That was when Sasuke had spotted the other boy standing up for a stray cat who had stolen some fish. Naruto defended it against some older guy who had no problem denying a hungry being some food. Sasuke remembered it because the older guy looked terrified upon seeing Naruto and his bright blue eyes.

Haku let out a small sigh "You too?"

It was a soft acknowledgment, two strangers who have been through the same horror. Naruto heard it, wavered before lowering his hands.

"Why?"

 _No, why you! Naruto, who tried to kill you?_ Sakura felt her stomach turn. Sure the kid was annoying at times, but he was a kid. Who would want to kill a young boy who just pulled pranks?

"I have a rare Kekkei Genkai." Haky replied, spreading his arms "As you can see, I can create ice. Not many people could do that and now I'm the only one left."

Sasuke shifted and for a moment it looked like their opponent was looking at him. Haku folded his hands and continued.

"I was born in a small village in the Land of Water. At that time there was peace, but not too long before there had been a war. Shinobi with Kekkei Genkai fought amongst the other shinobi and were feared because of their talents. That fear remained even years after the war. The one with the bloodline abilities were hated and killed because of that fear."

"My mother was a wielder of Ice Release and I have inherited it from her. My father was a ordinary man. We used to be a loving family, simple and poor, but it was enough. My father did not know about our abilities, or so we thought. He had seen us, when I discovered my Kekkei Genkai. He became afraid despite having loved us so dearly. He then gathered a group of people and attacked us."

Sakura's jaw trembled. She wanted to cover her ears and continue to believe that flimsy fantasy she had when she was a child. Shinobi were cool, had super-powers and were regarded as heroes. The world was a beautiful place, there were no cruelties. The bad guys were always taken care of quickly.

 _What a ridiculous lie I told myself._

She should have seen it. In the scars of her teachers, in the eyes of veterans. She should have heard it through the whispers of massacres and mysterious murders. Instead she focused on a single boy and believed that the road was easy and pretty.

 _Truly ridiculous._

"He killed my mother and tried to kill me too. I reacted, and killed everyone. Including my father." Haku's voice never wavered. He had come to terms with his horrible past, it seemed.

"I met Zabuza-sama a few years later, when I was just a street rat. He gave me a purpose and he had the same eyes as me. I am more than happy to be a tool for him." He concluded.

"What?" Naruto almost growled "Don't you have any dreams of your own?"

"My dream is to be useful to him. It is my nindo." Haku didn't sound insulted at all.

"That's..." Sakura searched for the right word "a bit much, don't you think?" _Fool! If you have nothing to say, don't say anything at all!_ Her cheeks colored.

"To others, perhaps. To me it is all I want." Haku reached up.

The Genin tensed but he reached for his mask. Haku barely touched the porcelain when he froze. Sasuke frowned, he couldn't be hearing birds hear, right? Sakura gasped and pointed. There was a light on the other side of bridge, bright and blue.

The mist parted and the outlines of the adults could be seen. Kakashi was charging at a motionless Zabuza. The mighty Kubikiribōchō was pinned upright in a piece of concrete near them. The light came from Kakashi's palm. Sasuke's Sharingan activated on its own, memorizing the jutsu. Naruto gaped and only Sakura noticed Haku speeding away. The mirrors melted and fell down. A white mask laid shattered on the ground, near the puddles.

A thud echoed in the silence. Chi landed in the center of the bridge, her open haori waving in the wind. Kakashi involuntarily sped up. His stretched hand hit a body, cut clean through it and the body behind it. There was a gasp and a grunt. Kakashi wasn't sure if he did a good job.

"O-oh, sensei." Chi stared at him. Kakashi liked to believe she wasn't nearly drooling at the sight of blood, and that the clenching of her jaw wasn't out of lust.

Kakashi yanked his arm back, letting the blood stream down. Haku was beautiful even while dying, and also very young. The boy leaned forward, but a muscular arm from Zabuza around his waist stopped him from falling.

Team 7 got out of their stupor and ran over. No one spoke, except Naruto of course.

""H-Haku?"

"Do not worry." Haku muttered, a trickle of blood coming from between his lips. "I am happy I could die with Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza growled, his bandage was turning red. "Stop talking, brat."

Haku groaned "I just want... to ask their names..."

Naruto gulped but hit his chest anyway "Name's Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage! Believe it!" There were tears in his eyes.

"S-sakura. Haruno Sakura..." _Why haven't I got any dream?!"_

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke looked away, jamming his hands in his pockets.

"Ketsueki Chi. Pleased to meet you." Chi awkwardly bowed, her eyes focused on the gaping holes.

Haku nodded, too tired to speak. Zabuza's knee buckled and he fell to the ground on his back. Haku remained clenched against his chest. The thump of their bodies hitting the ground made the Genin wince.

"This is the end of us... You and I won't be going to the same place." Zabuza gasped. Haku's eyes were already closing, but he was listening. "I just- just wanted to... thank... you."

Haku smiled, as prettily as only he could, and let his final breath out. Not even a second behind, Zabuza's eyes flew open.

"Kakashi!" He spoke with a feverish strength. Kakashi straightened, the last words of a man were always the most important, regardless of foe or friend. He walked and lowered himself to the ground next to the Demon's head. Zabuza's free hand shot out and clutched his vest.

"Get... Gato." The eyes were wide and filled with a passion unlike anything he had seen. Kakashi nodded, grabbing the man's wrist in a promise. Enemy or not, now Zabuza was defeated and the copy-cat always believed that a shinobi was capable of honorable deeds.

"Consider it done." He replied.

Zabuza's eyes clouded and his arm relaxed. The Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi was no more.

Kakashi got up and turned to his students. Sakura and Naruto were close to tears (he wondered why), Sasuke was stoic though his pursed lips betrayed his thoughts, Chi was staring at the blood. The Jonin squinted, there were blood smeared on her chin, her hands and her sleeves. Her haori was open and the ribbon hung by her side.

"How are you guys?" The fog cleared completely.

"F-fine, I guess." Naruto wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Haku was really nice, you know."

 _Ah, I suppose they did something other than fight._ Kakashi's eye crinkled. He reached up to cover his Sharingan. _Let's do this the right way. What did Iruka say again?_

"Let's give them a grave, alright?"

Chi looked up. _She's not going to blatantly ask me if she can drink their blood, right?_ "I know a place. Near the house is a forest where I buried some other guys."

"Excuse me?" _What the flip? Has she been kidnapping villagers?_

Chi waved her dirty hand "Some thugs send by Gato came to the house. I took care of them and buried them. Inari and his mother are fine."

Sasuke was looking angry. _Not exactly something to be jealous of Uchiha._ Kakashi sighed and turned back to the bodies. The Genin wordlessly gathered and they got to work. Zabuza and Haku's limp bodies were still warm. They carried them off the bridge and eased them on a soft patch (upon Sakura's request) of grass. Chi's hand lingered on the bodies, her eyes a bright red.

"Alright, all of you get back on the bridge. Clean their stuff, I'll get the sword, and bring it back." He had a firm a grip on the Ketsueki's shoulder. The three wiped their hands and left, too distracted to wonder why Chi wasn't coming with them.

Kakashi turned the Genin towards him. She was fidgeting, looking both guilty and thirsty.

"What happened."

"Three thugs came in the house. I killed them and-"

"Drained them?"

She bit her lips. "Yeah, but they didn't have enough chakra." She looked up. "I am really hungry sensei. What if I loose control on the way back?"

Kakashi pursed his lips, glanced at his students gathering senbon and leaned forward. "Alright, here's what we are going to do. You get to drink some, but not all! Make sure no one sees you."

Chi nodded gratefully. "Thanks sensei, I won't be seen."

He turned away and walked over to gather Zabuza's sword, ignoring the slurping sounds behind him. As he came nearer he noted Naruto standing with his eyes trained on the other side of the river. That was when he heard them, a stampede. In the distance a mob appeared, complete with torches and axes. As far as he could see, none of them were shinobi.

"Team!" He yanked the sword out of the bridge and jumped to the center of the bridge to meet them halfway. His students stopped working and appeared at his side. He let out a breath when Chi arrived second later, looking fired up but not quite sane yet. At least the bodies wouldn't be resembling a raisin when they returned. There was a Killer Intent in the air, coming from Naruto and Chi.

Sasuke felt it too, it made him uncomfortable but he wasn't about to show it. Sakura gulped and instead focused on the fat figure leading the horde of men. The group stormed on the bridge, coming to a halt in front of the shinobi.

"You must be Gato." Kakashi sniffed, the fat man was really sweaty from walking such a distance.

Indeed, the fat man introduced himself as Gato, called them all losers and asked where the two 'idiots' were. Naruto all but shouted at them that Zabuza and Haku had died and weren't idiots. Gato laughed until he cried and Kakashi could hear the unspoken vow of his team to make him cry out of pain.

"Now then, let's take care of you." Gate sneered and send his team of untrained thugs to fight the team with the most notorious shinobi of Konoha. To top it off, said shinobi weren't in the greatest of moods.

What an idiot.

The men stormed at them. Kakashi figured that a plan wouldn't be necessary. Not that the kids would listen. Naruto created a dozen clones and launched straight in the fight. Sasuke send a fireball at them and even Sakura clutched her kunai and ran to take on a weaker looking men with a nasty looking gardening hoe.

"I'll be going then." He waved and jumped to where Gato was last seen and started his fight.

Chi nodded absently. There was so much blood in the air. A guy with a goatee swung his ax near her head. Chi's eyes flashed yellow and she flickered behind him, snapping his neck without a second thought. Another one came at her. She pierced his heart with a kunai. Another one. Dead by shuriken.  
One more. Killed by crushing his skull against her knee. She broke someones spine, severed a head and stabbed a younger fellow to death. Chi's head was buzzing. Her veins felt hot, the chakra from Zabuza and Haku coursed through them.

 _There is another method to kill._

Her memories resurfaced. She had used it before. People didn't seem to mind. Chi watched as a group surrounded her. Her teammates were fighting in the distance. They weren't looking. There was a steady drum around her, growing louder as the men closed in on her. She lifted her hands to the side. They were close enough now.

" _Ninja Art, Ketsueki Style: Extract."_

The world around her turned red. Blood burst from the men's torsos, quickly forming torrents that raced at Chi. It hit her skin, her lips and even her eyes. The moment it touched, it got absorbed. She took in all of their blood, panting from exhilaration. The men fell down, their skin completely shriveled.

 _Wake up!_

Using the energy she had received now, Chi's mind became calm and the world morphed back to how it originally was. No more mistaking humans for juice-boxes. Chi the Genin was awake again. She ran forward and grabbed a lanky guy who was about to charge into Sakura's unprotected back. In a display of power as a result of Ibiki's torture/training, she threw him over the railing and into the wild river.

Her eye fell on the remains of her first victims. _Can't leave them in the open._ They soon followed their colleague in the water. By the time she was back and fighting again, only a few men were left. Gato was kept in place by Kakashi who seemed to enjoy this. He held the man with one hand and knocked his thugs out with his other. A real boss. Zabuza's sword was pinned behind them.

The mob was taken down and only Gato was left begging for his life as he bled from a nasty gash in his neck given to him by one of his own clumsy minions who had pushed him against Kubikiribōchō. Naruto punched him. Kakashi didn't care. He was supposed to kill the man anyway. Gato's mouth was stuffed with a fairly large piece of wood that had broken off the railing during the fight. He died a few moments later, alone on the bridge as the team had already started digging for a grave for Zabuza and Haku.

Chi cleaned the gaping holes some more (using a sponge she produced from somewhere) and helped Sakura with the sewing. The girl had to swallow back her fear many times and feared just as many times that her breakfast might show up. The boys were digging a large grave in the shadow of the forest. Sasuke might have pretended to find it unnecessary, but he dug just as hard as Naruto. Kakashi kept an eye on Sakura and consulted with Pakkun.

Kakashi had summoned the pug as soon as he got separated from the Genin. The nin dog was tasked with reporting back about the state of them. It was Pakkun who had raced back worriedly to Kakashi and had told him that 'The pups stand no chance against that one!". Those words had made Kakashi fight just a tad harder and lead to him using the Chidori.

Now the pug was describing how the blood burst from the men surrounding Chi and how it got absorbed by her. Kakashi peeked at the girl. Her skin had always been tanned so there was no difference there. Her eyes were still yellow and made her look angry despite the gentle expression she had while comforting Sakura.

 _This kid is going to kill us all._ Kakashi thought darkly. He decided to clean Kubikiribōchō before bringing it to the graves. He was going to bury them with it. Couldn't risk a random villain deciding to use it, could he?

The graves were made, the bodies laid inside body-bags and the weapons were put on their torsos. Sakura carefully placed the mask next to Haku's sebon. Naruto patted the soil that covered them. Chi crouched next to him, holding a handful of chestnuts.

"We should plant them. One of them might turn into a tree."

Only Sasuke noticed the slight difference in the chestnuts, but he dismissed them as stones. Naruto and Sakura poked holes in the ground and started planting them. Years later there would be trees and perhaps a few roses.

 _This should be a good place to return to next year._ Kakashi massaged his neck, letting the sun shine on his face. "We have to fix the bridge and then we can go home."

It had been nearly a week now and with the needed rest and work, it would take another week before they could go back.

 _Ah, the Chuunin exams are coming up too. I need to train them._

Truth was he was planning to train Sasuke privately and get some teachers to train the other two. He wasn't sure how Iruka or the Genin would react to that but he needed to drill some basic rules in the Uchiha. Perhaps he would manage to pull the boy's head back from where it was stuck due to its deflated size. If that wouldn't happen through his training, then he had a different tactic. Very little could not be fixed with a gentle 'tap' to the head. Multiple times. With various levels of force.

The days that followed were hardly worth a letter home, not that any of them did write home. Sakura had 'forgotten' her writing utensils given to her by her mother at home, not wanting to embarrass herself.

They took some rest and recovered. The bridge was cleaned and fixed (as was the house). Inari and his mother thanked Chi from a distance and baked her a cake. Chi didn't have the heart to tell them how bad she was at eating sweat things and that the cake was burned and accepted gracefully. Naruto was subdued for a day but bounded down the stairs the next day as if nothing had happened.

"Kakashi sensei! I've decided my nindo!" He shouted and jumped in front of his poor teacher. "I am never going back on my word and I am never giving up! Believe it!"

"A-ah, congratulations Naruto." _What happened to "'Kashi sensei"?_ He wasn't disappointed or anything. Just, curious.

With the bridge all finished and named after the orange ninja, Team 7 and Chi took off. They had used up all of their clean underwear, had exhausted themselves and nearly died. Not to mention almost released a massive, nine-tailed demon fox and allowed a blood-drinking shinobi to roam freely in the town and committed a massacre on a newly build bridge. Kakashi was just glad that they hadn't set the whole place on fire.

The way back went by much faster since they could make use of their 'super-powers' and speed up. They slept briefly in their camp and took off early to make it before nightfall. Both Naruto and Chi insisted that they weren't completely drained from their extortions during the mission and so the group moved at lighting speed.

When Konoha's gates appeared, Sakura felt her eyes tear up and immediately punched herself (a very challenging task in itself) for being too sentimental. The gates appeared, Kakashi send them off with the message to get rest and come back to their meeting spot tomorrow. He would handle all the paperworks and stuff.

Watching the kids jolt towards their respective houses, hit him like a wave of sadness. Why he was sad, he didn't know. He must be growing old. He took care of the report, went to the Hokage, got chastised for completing an A-level mission with Genin and left for the bar.

Anko greeted him with a bottle aimed at his head. He tapped it aside and stepped to the group of Jonins. Ibiki looked at him, question clear.

"Yo Ibiki, " _Your student tried to drain my students, collapsed and woke up for no clear reason, killed nearly ten people and didn't care, drank some blood, killed some more men, drank some more blood and frankly: I don't think I can handle her anymore._ "your student is at home, resting."

Ibiki sighed in relief. "Good, must have been tiresome to be on the road for so long." 

"..."

"Kakashi?" Asuma frowned, leaning into his view "What happened?"

"..." Kakashi smiled and decided that they were going to find out regardless. "Our C-rank mission became an A-rank and we fought and defeated Zabuza Momochi and some more men."

It was silent in the bar. Jonin gaped at him and Kakashi found himself enjoying it. Ibiki gestured for another drink in a practiced movement of his hand. The bartender put the chosen bottle down and poured a shot glass full. Ibiki took the bottle and pushed the shot glass to Kakashi.

Kakashi cleared his throat, downed the shot, felt his throat and empty stomach burn and then started to tell his wonderful tale about the Naruto Bridge.


	15. Train and Suffer

There was a fire burning in Konoha's shinobi. More specifically, a fire burning in the Jonin who had been burdened with a handful of tiny, creatures who followed them around each and every day. It had been so since two evenings before.

The Jonin had gathered in their favorite bar night after the 'event', seemingly to chat and have some fun. It ended with only the Special Jonins (minus Ibiki) and Chuunin actually doing something fun while the teachers sat and filled paper after paper with strategies, notes and schedules. Their brats had to survive the upcoming months.

Ibiki's head hurt so much. Two days ago he had attended a meeting about the Chuunin exams, was forced to submit his team only to get beaten to the punch by Kakashi. The cyclops declared his team of angsty brats to be ready to face the next challenge. Of course, that meant that Gai's team was joining too and that meant that both Asuma and Kurenai went for it too. All of this made Ibiki look like he was copying them.

 _Annoying._

And now he had to get his brats trained so that they wouldn't get killed like initially was intended. Ibiki stared at the thick roll of paper in his hands. Ink stained both sides of it and and leaked all over the string holding them together. He sighed, massaging his forehead.

"Brats!" He called out. Within a second two arrived, standing ram-rod straight in front of them. Ibiki's headache worsened looking at the empty spot.

The third came out, casually strolling with a cup of coffee in her hand, thirty seconds afterwards. Shinji send a wide grin at her teacher and held out the steaming mug. Ibiki felt a thug deep inside but made sure to hide it. He snatched the cup and sniffed. The rich aroma of the bitterest coffee he had ever smelled wafted up his nose. It was as if the clouds outside had finally broken apart to let the sun shine and there were rainbows everywhere and stakes with missing nin pierced like shish kebab with their diaries attached to their necks.

He took a sip.

He spit it out.

"What the hell?!" He spluttered, reaching for his cup of watery tea on his desk. The taste was hideous, betraying the scent. It was by far the foulest cup of anything he had ever tasted.

Shinji was undeterred and ever so helpfully retrieved her creation and pushed in back into his hands. "Drink up sensei, it is made with special herbs that are said to rejuvenate you and increase your stamina."

Ibiki felt his ears color. His headache was back in all its pounding glory. Ryuya and Chi were standing there, still on their spot looking like queuers in a shop. Chi even had the audacity to yawn, baring her _very_ sharp canines. Ryuya stared into nothingness, leaning against her tall friend. He was pretty sure that, without Chi, she would fall over.

He was glad that at least their bickering had stopped. Now all their combined fury was aimed at him and any other shinobi who dared cross their paths or eat the last crispy creme donut. He put the atrocious coffee down on his desk, willing it to change flavor before he was force-fed, and faced his students.

"I have news."

"Who would've guessed." Shinji replied dryly.

 _Don't, Ibiki. Remember, there are no windows here and you're not supposed to make one in the shape of your student._

"I have entered you three in the Chuunin Exams."

It was silent for a while. Chi looked mildly alarmed and the other two were blank.

"The what now?"

"Chuunin Exams."

"Yeah, I got that. What are Chuunin Exams?"

"Just what the name says."

He could tell Shinji was growing annoyed. _Serves her right._

Chi rolled her eyes behind her. "It's the exam we have to pass to become Chuunin." _Obviously._

Ryuya snapped up from her thoughts, looking panicked "Isn't that too soon?"

"No. You kids have learned more than I could've imagined and way faster too."

He really should hate it more when they looked so smug. He really should. Instead Ibiki offered a crooked grin and nod before growing serious.

"Listen maggots." Sensing the change in atmosphere, the three turned rigid. "These exams are nothing to scoff at. A lot of Genin enter, all with different levels of experience and skill."

He paused, wondering if he should really tell them. _They deserved it._ "A lot enter but not many come out to tell the tale."

The air was heavy. Chi's eyes were slowly changing color, a process he still found disconcerting. Especially when they turned yellow.

"All right." Shinji declared, foolishly brave. Ryuya nodded slowly, never far behind her teammates. Chi ran her eyes over his body and he felt a tug on his chakra. It was quiet for an eternity before she blinked and said:

"Sure, why not."

He really needed an aspirin.

 _With Team 7~_

"I AM SO PUMPED!" Naruto chanted for the umpteenth time as he ran full speed across the lake.

Kakashi felt his ears ring even from the distance. Sakura and Sasuke sighed, standing on the land, watching their teammate complete his exercise. As always, Naruto had yet to show any signs of exhaustion and was made to exercise just to waste his energy. To him it was training to get stronger, to them it was a chance to get some peace and quiet.

"Sensei?" Sakura perked up.

"Hmm?"

"Kurenai sensei asked me to come early in the morning for extra Genjutsu training."

"Is that so?" Kakashi replied.

Sakura nodded "She asked me to wait for her at the forest near the Nara compound."

 _She did what now?!_ "I see." _Kurenai, what the flip? Are you trying to get rid of the competition? That is not fair, you got three clan-brats!_

Sasuke frowned "Isn't that the Forest of Death?"

Sakura paled but before any of them could speak, Naruto jumped up from behind her. He had noticed their lack of attention to his incredible speed and went back to remind them.

"Yeah I know that place!" He cried, making his teammates jump. "Chi lives near that place, real creepy stuff there. I once saw a spider the size of a dog."

Sakura looked ready to faint. Kakashi felt the need to interfere. "He means a puppy, Sakura. A Chihuahua puppy, really small. And harmless." He added as an afterthought.

Naruto looked incredulous and opened his big, loud, stupid mouth. Sasuke discreetly lobbed a rock at his head, effectively distracting the kid. Sakura still looked worried.

"Sensei? Was this really a good idea?"

Kakashi petted her hair "I believe that it is. You three have grown and are finally looking like a team." _Like Hell you are. Oh well, nothing a couple of month living on the edges of your nerves can fix._

Sakura was unimpressed and pointedly looked at her fighting teammates, whose conversation had degenerated to comparing each other's facial features to turds and frogs. She really wondered how they would ever look like a team.

"Come on brats!" Kakashi called cheerfully, ignoring the obvious glare from Sakura. "We've got more work to do."

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted. "I want to be as famous as you, sensei! Or like Zabuza."

He posed, curling his hands and upper lip. Kakashi felt cold sweat forming on his neck and a nervous tick making its way to his jaw.

"Demon Naruto!"

 _Oh my God._

"Naruto." He tried sternly. The boy didn't realize it and continued his horribly ironic caricature.

"Na-rut-o." Kakashi rose his voice.

With a smack, realization dawned on the blond and he dropped his pose. His face went white and eyes widened. It was only for few seconds, before he regained his usual posture.

"Hehe, oops! I guess I went too far."

Kakashi shook his head "No, I just don't think how anyone could see you as a demon."

The boy stilled, before a genuine smile crept up his lips. He ran a hand through the short, blond locks as Sakura quietly observed them. Kakashi studied the boy and felt a weight drop in his stomach. 

_He is faking it._

"Why was Zabuza named a demon?" Sasuke suddenly spoke up.

His teammates stared at him, incredulous that he actually asked a normal question. Sasuke frowned and asked again "Why was he a demon?"

Kakashi recovered first and straightened, glad the previous situation had been pushed aside.

"Well, I guess you could say that it was because of their Genin exams."

"What? But we had those too, that is nothing special or demonic." Naruto rubbed his nose.

Kakashi sighed "Yes, but they have a slightly different one. To pass their exams, the class forms pairs. Only one of each duo can pass the exams, and to win... You have to kill the other one."

It was quiet. The kids were wide eyed. Kakashi looked at them with a heavy heart. Soon, these stories would not seem as cruel anymore.

 _Inside Konoha's sewer system~_

"AGH MY NOSEE!" Kiba howled and wiped at the mysterious speck on the tip of his nose.

Ino shuddered and tried her best not to gag. Her surroundings were dark, but not dark enough to hide the suspicious lumps and bits in the water streaming next to them. The sewers formed a large, highly secured maze, running underneath the village. For the sake of patrolling and maintenance, the Second Hokage had ordered the construction of deep grooves in the round walls where shinobi could walk. It also helped them in their escape as they wouldn't leave a scent strong enough to be found by a child with the flu.

The entrances could be collapsed at any given time and the grooves were only accessible to someone with a transmitter. Ino was holding it in her hand, a small stick like object with a pompom on one end, and Kiba was crouching in front of her. Their job was to find the other duos and capture them. Neither of them knew that they both had been given instructions to take the other team, and their partners, out.

Ino could only hope that Shikamaru had already taken his partner (Hinata) out. Choji was stuck with Shino and she knew that Shino was too smart for the other boy. She herself had nothing to worry. At this rate Kiba would take himself out. The scent was too strong for the Inazuka duo. Akamaru had pressed his tiny paws against his nose. Kiba had passed looking green and was now going for purple.

The assignment had been courtesy of the Eternal Chuunin, who had expressed their worries about potential intruders during the Exams. They hadn't mentioned the sewers and Asuma and Kurenai had taken advantage of that. The six Genin were flattered with the thought of doing something 'cool', especially since they heard about Team 7's A-rank mission, and agreed to to patrol without a second thought.

When the mission had become clear and they were thoroughly briefed, they tried to run. Turned out that Shikamaru's cousins overheard everything and decided to take revenge on the many times Shikamaru had made them look like fools. Never before had anyone ever cursed the Shadow technique like that. All six Genin were trapped because, of course they were standing outside where the sun could warm their backs.

Ino and Kiba hurried along, the latter being pushed by the former. The sooner they got out of here, the better. Ino narrowed her eyes at her partner. She should take him out before they reached the others. Peering into the Stream of Disgusting Things, she noticed a rather large sack of something drifting towards the edge. Thinking quick, she jumped to the front, grabbed Kiba's arm, turned and used her momentum to throw him into the water, puppy and all. He face planted in the sack.

 _That should keep him busy._ Ino cackled and ran away, ignoring the horrified screams and gagging from behind her. She just needed to find her own team and then they would win.

 _Team Gai, somewhere halfway between the afterlife and the capital of the Land of Fire~_

Tenten couldn't think anymore. Her tongue was dangling near her knees and her skin was so sweaty she could swim to their destination. Next to her Neji was only hanging on with pride, something she had given up on when she first saw her sensei's spandex-clad butt. His long hair was plastered to his neck and, the bandages were re-purposed as sweatbands and his white shirt was see-through. Tenten was glad she chose a red shirt for today's training.

Both were leaving a trail of sweat, saliva and occasionally tears and clothes behind, which were kindly picked up by Master Ningame. The giant tortoise summon was waggling far behind them and promised to carry them on the way back. He also seemed to enjoy the dampened ground left by the two normal students.

Gai and Lee were doing great. Great form, shining teeth, sharp bowl cut, striking eyebrows and ultra-tight green spandex.

And no sign of stopping.

"YO LEE."

"YES, GAI SENSEI." 

"ARE YOU OKAY?"

"YES, GAI SENSEI."

"YOSH! LETS GO FASTERRRR!"

"YES, GAI SENSEI!" And off they sped to the horizon, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. It stuck to the sweaty bodies of the two behind them.

Neji felt an actual sob rise.

 _In the evening, back in Konoha~_

The Genin were sore, still in the shower, eating and crying respectively. They all dreaded the following days. Few of the more superstitious ones were even offering their food and favorite games to the Gods of Fortune, Health and Happiness.

Chi stepped out of the T&I building, massaging her forehead. The training had been unusual and tiring. She was learning a new jutsu, one that had apparently been in the more obscured scrolls of Konoha. Yamanaka Inoichi had explained that it had been yet another jutsu that her clan had copied and adapted from another one. It had once again caused a great dispute and many threats were exchanged before the Fourth Hokage had enough. The jutsu was written in a scroll, no one was allowed to use it anymore and he would not tolerate one more argument from either sides. Also, the Ketsueki really had to stop pulling this kind of stuff. Bad for peace and order etc.

She walked in the late evening sun, wondering what she could make for dinner. The restaurants were tempting her, but she had already spent too much money on other products. In short: she was broke. As she turned a corner to an empty street, her instincts made her duck. A kunai lodged itself in the wooden fence next to her. Her chakra reacted, cracking the ground. She narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her.

"Showing yourself in the open, old man? Aren't you scared of someone seeing you or did you already kill everyone here?" She sneered.

Danzo didn't react. He walked towards her, only to be stopped by a violent gust of wind. Chi's eyes were two yellow lights. The sweet, sultry air turned sour and cold. "Stay away. I haven't forgotten what you have done."

"I am just here to see how you are doing." Danzo's lips twitched into a cold smile.

Chi eyed the bandages, not for the first time wondering what the man was hiding. She flickered behind him and continued to walk. He caught up with her in a second. Not a word was exchanged. Chi's chakra was in a turmoil. Her blood was boiling and already gathered at her hands. Her braces tightened to the point where they hurt. She was ready to attack but had to force it back. No good would ever come out of attacking a man like him.

He followed her like a shadow. The sun had become too warm, her patience running thin. Various Nara stared at them. One ran off and returned with Shikaku. The man's expression tightened but turned into disbelief when he noticed their direction. When she reached the edge of the forest, Chi stopped.  
Danzo took one more step and looked back at her.

"You are not going with me." She gritted out, feeling her muscles tense.

"Why? I just want to talk to you."

"I don't want to listen to you." She paused, collecting herself "If you must, then speak now."

Danzo didn't seem to agree. He took three more steps in to the forest. Chi's chakra burst. Clones formed around the compound and in between the trees. Yellow eyes stared at him from all directions. Shikaku tensed and came closer, ready to step in.

"Get out." Chi's voice was hushed and trembled with rage. The air was filled with her characteristic Killer Intent. She raised her hands, showing how the braces were vibrating. "Now."

Danzo stared at her "You can not hurt me."

"Watch me."

"This is for your own good. For Konoha."

"What do you know about Konoha's good?" She snapped.

Danzo came closer "I will do anything for the good of Konoha."

"Even destroy it?"

Shikaku held his breath. He wasn't going to pretend to mind his own business. He knew that there were at least five ANBU nearby, keeping an eye on them. Danzo seemed the same as always, but the slight jolt in the chakra betrayed his anger.

"You will join me, Ketsueki. It is your destiny. Where else would your abilities develop? I am the only one who can help you pass these Chuunin Exams." 

Chi's eyes flashed, her pupil was almost gone. Her lips curled up, showing how much longer her canines had become in just seconds.

"In that case, should I just go ahead drink your blood?"

Shikaku drew a deep breath. It had been ten years since he last heard someone say that. That last person had been a fully grown Jonin who had been executed for slaughtering his team in a bout of insanity. He himself had always claimed that he was just too hungry. That statement only brought him to the first place in the death row.

Danzo managed a wry laugh. "You should watch you words, brat. You are just a Genin, not even the top of your class. I could have you taken care of in a second."

The clones gathered closer, eyes still just as bright. "Which one of us?" They chorused.

Danzo's eyes narrowed. His hand shot out and a wave of wind shot through the clones. They all disappeared apart from the one in front of Danzo.

"All of you." He spoke, staring at her.

The remaining Chi gave a grin and poofed away. The empty spot seemed to laugh at him.

 _Another Shadow Clone._ Shikaku thought admirably. _She must have fled the moment she created them. Clever kid._

He was definitely going to the bar tonight, he finally had a special story.

Meanwhile Danzo stared at the empty spot and nodded slowly to himself. He raised his head, looked the Nara head straight in the eye for one terrifying second, and flickered away. The Nara clan members shot away to their houses, pretense of laziness forgotten, chores and conversations abandoned. Shikaku lit a cigarette and noted how his hands were shaking. _Damn._

He turned and took his time strolling to the bar. By the time he arrived, his hands had stopped trembling but his mind had not stopped whirring for one second. He kicked the door open en immediately scanned the room for the leather clad Jonin. He found him in the corned and wasted no time in getting behind him.

Ibiki turned, wearing a grimace as he nursed a glass of... water? He saw Shikaku's look and shrugged.

"Apparently you can't take aspirin with alcohol."

 _Right. I suppose it is a good to give your liver a break._

Shikaku shook himself awake and raised his voice. "I need everyones attention!"

The noise quieted down. Anko giggled but was glared into silence by Asuma. It wasn't everyday that the laid back Jonin commander raised his voice, or bothered to get up for that matter.

Shikaku scratched his head, yawned and stood straighter. "It is about your student Ibiki, but I think we all need to know about this."

Ibiki tensed, no doubt recalling the antics of his students. He might have been thinking about the time when they managed to destroy an entire room whilst trying to kill a spider. They never found the insect and to this day, it remains an open case.

"Which one?"

"Chi." Shikaku answered and the glass cracked. No news involving only that kid was ever good.

"Danzo offered to train her."

"That bas-" Anko was once again shushed. Killer Intent crept through the room, there was a stumbling noise in one corner. Ibiki stood so fast, his stool hit the bar.

"He did what?" He growled.

"I saw him walking with Chi towards the forest. He made the offer to train her but Chi refused, quite spectacularly."

Ibiki dropped back on his chair, looking wary but relieved. "What did she do?"

Shikaku grinned and ordered a beer as he recalled the events. Kurenai snorted and Anko cheered. Ibiki felt a smile tug on his lips. His brat was a total bad-ass, he thought proudly. The tension left the room.

Kakashi felt that this was the moment to release his hold on Iruka. The shorter man had nearly exploded at the mention of Danzo. Kakashi had grabbed him and wrestled him in a chair. There, the man had fumed quietly until the Nara had told them about her grand escape with Shadow Clones.

The copy-cat's mood had improved considerably with the tale. Seriously, no one liked the man and despite his history in ROOT, Kakashi could honestly tell anyone that he wanted nothing more than the Hokage to ban or kill him. Danzo might be the most passionate person when it came to protect the village, but his ways were narrow-minded, prejudiced, rushed and often had disastrous consequences.

Iruka looked grim. "Did you check up on her?"

Shikaku shook his head. "No one can go near that place without special permission from her or the Hokage."

Ibiki nodded in agreement, remembering how he had rushed in the Hokage's office to catch Chi right before she left for the mission with Team 7.

Asuma leaned back "Right, you have to go through the Forest of Death."

Shikaku grimaced "I wish that was the worst. The clan's district is littered with traps and Genjutsu. Take one wrong step and you end up dead or worse. Night or day, you never feel safe there."

He privately recalled the one time he went there by his wife's orders. The young Chi had fallen ill and the Mrs. Nara demanded that someone (her husband) would go and bring the kid some porridge. He managed the forest by running as fast as he could, but once he arrived at the district walls he got in trouble. He passed no less than twenty different traps and Genjutsu before he dared to jump over the wall.

Once inside the compound, he grabbed his kunai, just to be sure. The low sun made the blood-red color of the roofs and lanterns intenser. Every house looked the same, every street was deserted. A pungent smell hung in the air and only grew stronger when he reached what seemed to be a temple. There was a single well inside the wall-less structure. He could smell the blood there and carefully neared it.

Shikaku had fought in a war, had faced the Nine Tailed Fox, witnessed many deaths and caused many as well. Yet, to this day he felt sick as thought of the inside of the temple. The well was filled to the brim with blood. The floor had browned footprints, large and small onces, smears of blood, deep grooves and scratches. There were tattered clothes strewn around, a freaking blade just laying there, half buried underneath a pile of bones.

At the time his own son was just a snot-nosed nine year old, and there he could see a baby's skull, with one tooth in the empty gap of his mouth. He had turned away and ran out as fast as he could. The box with porridge was abandoned against a house, he hoped that she would find it, if not, he didn't care.

He had sprinted home and went to kiss his wife and hug his son, never telling them what he had seen. That was the last time he dared to venture near that place. The girl was seen wandering the forest just days after his visit. She looked dazed and feverish, and was holding the lunch box. She dropped it at the border of the compound and left, staggering back into the haunting darkness of the Forest of Death. The box was empty and had a small, wrinkled piece of paper in it. ' _Thank you._ ' was scrawled in black ink.

Shikamaru reported that she had returned in the class two days later, looking really pale and skinny, but healthy. Her eyes had been red, he recalled. Shikaku told him to just forget it, her clan was special.

The crowd in the bar was getting rowdier and more wild stories had come up with the increased amount of alcohol. No less than three shinobi claimed to have seen an unicorn wandering in the forest, two saw a dragon and one saw the Sandaime walking naked. Shikaku blinked, he must have gotten lost in his thought for longer than he knew.

Ibiki nudged him, holding a glass of something that was definitely not water. The Nara thought of his wife at home and decided that he could handle one more terrifying experience in his life.

"Cheers!" He grinned, accepting the alcohol. It smelled so strong, it might as well have been pure alcohol. _Just what I needed._


	16. Forest of Illusion

If Sakura had been complaining about feeling queasy this morning and looked just a tad too pale, her mother had dismissed it as temporary nausea and was glad the tan she had gotten was wearing off. Sakura had, after all been experimenting with weird liquids lately. The amount of weird, thick, _moving on its own,_ smelly substances she had found in the bottles in her room were enough reason to stop bothering with her daughter's shinobi life.

She wiped her hands on her apron as she watched Sakura sitting at the table, bleary eyed and with a unfashionable green sweater. In the middle of summer. Her mother rose a perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"Honey?"

Sakura chewed on her rice as if she was chewing on carton. _And what happened to her diet?_

"Sakura?"

No reaction yet. But Mrs. Haruno had enough practice with her husband. She reached for the green peppers she had just chopped and picked a nice juicy one. With the experience of someone who had done this plenty of time before, she planted it on top of the bowl of rice. Sakura's eyes flashed and- before Mrs. Haruno could retract her hand- she had grabbed her thumb in between her chopsticks.

"Ack!" Mrs. Haruno yelped.

Sakura sat back in shock "Mom! Why did you do that?"

"I was just trying to get your attention!" Her mother clutched her hand. "I never imagined that you would notice!" 

"Mom! I am a shinobi, of course I would!" Sakura jumped up and left the room. She returned two seconds later to take the largest bite of rice her mother had ever seen her take, and stormed out again. Her mother remained standing on her spot, stunned.

Sakura fled her house, feeling both embarrassed and guilty. Her own mother didn't have faith in her quest to become a shinobi! Of course, she had always urged Sakura to just go to the civilian school and find a normal job, like a nurse for example. She would marry some nice guy and have some kids and all would be well. But Sakura chose to learn about weaponry, martial arts, killing and sitting in the dirt with blood coating her hands.

Her boots send clouds of dust rising in her wake as she navigated through the dark streets. Overhead, shadows crossed each other and shot over the rooftops. Every now and then, the scarce moonlight would light up a porcelain white mask, or metal headband as it flashed away. Sakura sped up to a comfortable jog and subconsciously stayed away from the lights.

The pinkette was still flushed when she arrived at the misty entrance to the Forest of Death where she was awaited by Chi. The other girl had donned light blue haori which was a size too big for her. Dark trees rose up from behind her, a purple hue was rising in the sky.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise she greeted the tired girl. Chi looked like the last time she had slept was last week and confirmed that when Sakura asked.

"I got this horrible new schedule from Ibiki sensei... Spend the whole night outside without sleep." She rubbed her head, making tangles in her hair.

Sakura winced. "Sounds terrible, but what are you doing here?" 

Chi pointed behind her "Met Kurenai sensei on my way home, she asked me to direct you since this place is dangerous when your unfamiliar with it."

"But why didn't sensei come herself?" Sakura wondered.

Chi grinned apologetically "She's already preparing."

 _Great._ "Well, lead the way." Sakura sighed.

Chi detached herself from the pole with a battered _Keep out if you value your life-_ sign and stepped in the shadow of the looming trees. Sakura followed, standing closer to her former classmate than she would have normally found acceptable. Chi didn't seem to mind, or notice. Shinji and Ryuya probably flocked even closer to her.

They walked through the still dark forest in silence before Sakura spoke up.

"Aren't you scared?" Her voice sounded loud and shrill in the quiet of dawn.

Chi glanced at a tall tree, hand resting inside her haori. "I used to be completely comfortable here."

"And now?" Sakura eyed the steel brace around her neck. There was a fine crack running along the side, disturbing the smooth edges. _What would happen if they broke?_

Chi's eyes rested on her, a deep rusty brown color. "Now, I try to feel the same."

There was a pregnant pause. Sakura gulped, feeling out of place next to the trained-since-birth-and-already-killed-some-dudes kunoichi. She evaded a large caterpillar crawling across the path with a large step when Chi spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Sakura tripped over her own feet. Chi's calloused hand grabbed her arm and steadied her. They stood still, looking at each other.

"I am sorry for saying those mean things on that day. In the classroom when we were waiting for the teachers to arrive." She clarified.

Sakura remembered and immediately waved the apologies off "I deserved that. You were right anyway. Even my own mom doesn't see me as a shinobi."

Chi looked ahead, eyes distant. Sakura's cheeks colored.

 _Snap! She doesn't have a mom!_ "I-"

"My mom," Chi spoke quietly "she never saw me as a child."

Sakura fell still, waiting for the other girl to speak. She did. Softly and almost nostalgic.

"She would never do things other moms- outside our clan- would do. Hugging, kissing, feeding... In our clan, it is custom to let the children raise themselves, it helps develop our own specialty. Besides, my mom wasn't fit to raise a child." She concluded.

"How come?" Sakura couldn't help herself. She didn't comment on the fact that Chi spoke like her clan was still around.

Chi's eyes locked on hers again, lighter this time. "She was insane."

When Sakura arrived at the clearing, and said goodbye to Chi who instructed her to wait here, she realized that she was cold. Which was rare in the Land of Fire. The hair on her arms and neck stood on end and she was shivering.

She tried not to think much of Chi's brief description of her mother. Still, she wondered what 'insane' meant. Was she abusive? Drunk, obsessed with someone, did she have weird habits? What was it that made Chi so... Chi?

As far as Sakura knew, Chi had always been an outsider. When they were around five, Chi had been a wild and carefree child. Once, they were supposed to hold a presentation about a special object in their life. Sakura's object was a ribbon given to her by Ino, Naruto had frog-wallet. Chi brought a rose. It was a dark one and smelled bad. She told them it was a special one, and was called a 'Chi'. She had cut it herself that morning. At the time, Sakura thought that she had accidentally injured her hand too, by the way she was clutching a blood stained handkerchief. Later, it turned out to be the liquid dripping from the stem of the rose.

Sakura couldn't bring herself to be jealous of Chi's presentation, the scent of the flower was just too bad. It did make her curious about the species. So after school, she begged her mom to take her to the library and found a dusty scroll in the far back of the 'K'-section, labeled 'Ketsueki clan: a his-' the rest of the label unreadable due to a dark stain.

She spent the entire night reading even as her eyes burned and the light of her flashlight flickered. Much like the sunlight did here, she suddenly noticed.

Her breath came out in white puffs as she spun around. The trees alternated between inky black and ordinary brown. Her nerves tensed, the periods of light and darkness switched faster and faster and she couldn't help but imagine a pale face nearing her. Her hand found her kunai and she jumped high on a overhanging branch. From her point she had the advantage to look at her spot.

 _Chakra..._ Sakura let out a breath and jumped down again. She folded her hands and dispelled the Genjutsu.

The trees disappeared. A gaping black void surrounded her. She dispelled it as well.

Tiny red eyes opened all around her. They followed her with every turn she took. Sakura's breath quickened but she forced herself to remain calm. Voices started to speak, hushed and sharp. One voice became two and soon two became four until the noise swelled to a muted choir. Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes and hated herself for them. She closed her eyes, gathered herself and send out as much chakra as she dared.

The voices stopped abruptly, the regular chirping of distant birds returned. Light managed to sneak its way through the thick roof of branches and hit her eyes. Sakura flinched and stepped away, still holding her hands out.

"Well done." A female voice spoke from behind her.

Sakura instinctively reached for her weapon pouch to retrieve her kunai before she recognized the teacher of Team 8. Kurenai Yuhi stepped out of the shadows, collected and confident. Her red eyes remained on Sakura's face as she neared her.

"K-kurenai sensei..." Sakura sighed in relief. She wiped her hands on her shirt.

Kurenai looked at her attire and smiled. _She changed, for the better._ "You are very quick at sensing Genjutsu, did you train that?" 

Sakura blushed "N-no, not really."

The Jonin nodded "Very well, lets begin the real training."

 _At the entrance of the Forest of Death, noon~_

Naruto really tried to keep a neutral face in front of the trees that loomed over him like the wrath of Kami, he really did. It was just that Sasuke was blessed with the emotional range of a chopstick and Kakashi had covered three quarters of his face. He had no such luck and was thus trying to distract himself by counting the leaves on the ground. He quickly discovered a dead mouse and then looked for other methods.

"There she is." Kakashi didn't even look up from his orange book.

Naruto squinted his eyes. Sasuke was peeved that he couldn't sense her.

A pink head appeared from behind a truly impressive oak, and Sakura's whole body soon emerged. In one piece, as Kakashi assessed with relief, though he had to wonder about her mind.

 _Oh well, she'll grow over it._

As the girl neared them, he could see the redness on her cheeks and puffiness of her eyes. Her shoulders were sagged, head held tiredly and her feet dragged over the dirt. Her chakra was nearly depleted. More importantly, there was a crow nestling on her head.

 _What the hell?_

The crow spotted the group waiting, clicked once and tried to flee but got tangled up in the pink strands. Sakura's hand shot out and grabbed the bird by its neck, and tossed it aside like a twig. The crow let out an indignant whine and shuffled away.

Deciding that it probably wasn't worth his time and sanity, and that his students were most definitely going to end up in an asylum, Kakashi stepped aside and motioned for the Genin to follow his lead. There was a time and place for pleasantries and it was not now nor here.

He was the only one who got that memo.

Naruto launched in a tirade of questions and Sakura indulged him with the occasional hum or groan. Sasuke hadn't moved from his spot facing the trees. His Sharingan was activated and Kakashi could sense his chakra wavering. The other two kept on walking. Kakashi let them, he went to find out what bothered Sasuke. The boy didn't react to Kakashi, though it was certain that he'd noticed the teacher.

"Sensei," He started, sounding unsure "What is wrong with this place?"

Kakashi stiffened and looked at him for a long time, not answering. It was only when Sasuke turned to look, that he noticed the grim look in Kakashi's eye.

"Sensei?"

"Naruto, Sakura! Come here for a second." The copy-cat called.

Both kids turned and made their way back. Kakashi waited, enduring the hard stare from Sasuke.

"What's up sensei? Is Sasuke scared of the forest?" Naruto mocked with a wide grin. Sakura elbowed him, curious to hear what Kakashi was going to tell them.

"Listen to me, all of you." Kakashi said. The three heard the serious tone and straightened.

"I want you all to know that this forest is off limits for you three unless you have received permission from me or the Hokage."

Naruto frowned "But, Chi always goes there. She even took me to her house and that's on the other side of this place."

Kakashi's eye scanned the trees. "Chi lives here and knows every nook and cranny. Besides, her bloodline ensures her survival. She won't bleed out and die here, unlike you."

He faced the trio "Even if it's with Chi, tell someone- me or any other sensei- that you plan on entering."

Sakura scratched her head "Chi brought me to Kurenai sensei this morning."

"Yes, she did and Kurenai made sure to scan the forest and put some repelling perfume along the route you were going to take." Kakashi countered "Even with Chi, it is dangerous. Chi is only a Genin like you and much of her abilities haven't developed yet. You can't rely on her." _Or her mind._

"But what's in here?" Sasuke interrupted.

Kakashi sighed "A long time ago, there was a shinobi who lived in Konoha. He was strong but obsessed with immortality. He eventually turned to performing experiments on fellow shinobi and animals. When he was exposed, he fled. We tried to find his creatures and dispose of them, but he had already released them into this place. Over the years there have been many hunts, but some survived and even reproduced. It caused the animals here to be malformed and become simply monstrous."

The Genin gawked. Sakura stole a quick glance at the dense woods and paled. The three didn't bother with any questions on their way to the Hokage Tower, too immersed in their thoughts. Kakashi lingered behind them, remembering the conflict it had caused with the Nara's and worst of all: the Ketsueki.

It had been that day when they all realized the threat of the blood clan. While the Nara's understood the danger and build themselves a fence and organized a patrol, the Ketsueki caused a bloodbath. For days, fumes of rotten, steaming carcasses rose from the south of the forest. They returned each night to the entrance and dumped whatever they had managed to kill. Sometimes it had been a giant snake with four heads, sometimes a deformed human. All were drained of blood and no one bother to ask what had happened with it. What Kakashi realized that day, was that there was no clan in the world who enjoyed murder as much as the Ketsueki.

Of course, the Hokage at the time tried to stop them and convince them to just wait for an organized hunt with the rest of the Jonin and Chuunin, but when the clan head had turned up to the meeting; all glowing yellow eyes, grinning and dragging a hideous chimera along, the Hokage saw that it was too late.

The clan of bloodsuckers was already too far gone.

Kakashi could only hope that the girl could be saved.

 _At the T &I building, that evening~_

"Damn it all!" Ibiki slammed his fist against the metal bars as he left the cell. Inoichi hurried after him trying to rid himself of the gory image in the cell.

"Does he take us for idiots?!" Ibiki raged on as they left the dungeons.

"Well, he certainly didn't try to cover it." Inoichi shrugged. He frowned as he noted the other man stalking to the exit of the building "Oi, where are you heading? We need to fill out the-"

The door slammed shut and Inoichi groaned, he was stuck with the many forms again.

"Stupid kid, stupid Danzo, stupid secret ninja technique." He muttered as he took a turn and walked the stairs to his office.

Ibiki left for the bar. His feet took him there in five minutes and he stormed inside, startling a few Chuunin near the door. Most Jonins were already gathered with the exception of Asuma and Guy. He spotted Kakashi and Iruka studying a piece of paper and immediately walked up to them.

The copy-cat greeted him with a salute. Iruka's smile slipped off when he noted the angry look in Ibiki's eyes.

"What did Chi do this time?" He spoke before Ibiki could.

Her sensei took a moment to mourn the fact that that was a legitimate concern ever since the tall Genin managed to blow up part of the academy in search of a spider. He quickly shook the thought and pressed his lips in a thin line.

"Remember the boy we caught snooping near the Ketsueki compound?" 

Iruka thought for a while and rose his finger "The one trapped in a ditch with stakes?"

"That one." Ibiki confirmed. His shoulders sagged "I went to interrogate him again but he managed to kill himself. Shoved a blade in his throat."

Kakashi shifted his weight. His gray eye was narrowed. "How? I thought he didn't have any access to weapons?"

Ibiki gritted his teeth. "Danzo came to visit today, said he wanted to take a look himself. He slipped the kid something, or killed him himself. Damn ol-"

Iruka discretely kicked his shin, expression not wavering. There was an unfamiliar presence on the other end of the bar. Ibiki's signaled the bartender.

"Now what are you going to do?"

Ibiki sighed "There is nothing I can do. Just hope that the kid will be okay."

Kakashi's eye curved "I think she will be fine so long as you train her, Ibiki."

Ibiki growled something and snatched the bottle from the bar. Attaching it to his lips, he wondered for how long he would be able to keep his team.

 _The very next day, at the top secret training grounds on the left of the Hokage tower in the forest~_

Chi wiped her sweat away and took aim. Her hand came down from behind her and send the senbon flying. It hit the boulder situated in front of her and fell to the ground. She groaned, closing her eyes.

"Oh yes, great job hitting the one thing standing in your way in this _huge_ open space." Shinji clapped and rolled her eyes.

"I don't see you doing better!" Chi snapped back.

Shinji rose her eyebrows "Oh yeah? Did you not see me hit the target from the fifty meter mark?"

"Please, that wasn't _your_ target!"

"At least I hit _a_ target. With you I wouldn't be concerned if you were trying to hit me, I would be concerned for my neighbors two doors further!"

"You don't have any neighbors with doors on the battlefield, you dimwit!"

Genma hit his forehead with concerning force. Ryuya smiled gently "This might not be their strong side."

"This is not any side of theirs." Genma chewed frantically on his senbon. "How am I supposed to teach them anything when senbon are my specialty?"

Ibiki walked over, long coat abandoned in the sweltering glare of the sun. "That's the thing, you can't teach them anything. You just show them something and hope that they can at least remember the name."

"Then what's the point?!" Genma exclaimed, feeling his skin burn in the heat.

"I don't know, it was Iruka's plan!" Ibiki retorted. "Go ask him!" 

Genma sighed and plopped down on the grass, wincing when the dry blades dug in his back. The two girls were still exchanging insults. Ryuya got up and meandered to them, undoubtedly to try and form a truce between the two. Ibiki crouched next to the Chuunin.

"You know, the exams are in a month and I feel like they haven't learned anything."

"Haven't they been learning with the others?" Genma opened one eye.

"Yeah, they have been exhausted all week." Ibiki recalled "But the exams are serious business, they might get killed because we didn't teach them enough skills."

Genma snorted.

"What?" Ibiki demanded.

"No- nothing, it's just that I never imagined you to be the concerned teacher type."

"I'm not!" Ibiki growled.

"Yeah, you are." Genma sobered "I can understand though. They are just kids, really. Sometimes I wonder if we should encourage them to become shinobi."

Ibiki looked at his students, they were laughing now. Chi clapped Shinji on her shoulder, making the girl's knees buckle. He nodded "It is a cruel life we're forcing them into. I just hope that they survive long enough to be able to retire."

"That's false hope." Genma laid down on the ground. "We would be lucky if even half would make it into adulthood. The dangers of the world are constantly evolving, even if we aren't at war anymore."

Ibiki found it hard to speak, his throat restricting at the thought of having to bury one of the Genin. Even if they weren't his own students, they were still kids and he was still supposed to teach them to survive. If he failed at that, then...

"I wonder what we'd do without them." He muttered, without realizing he said so.

Genma eyed him with amusement and stared at the trio currently chasing each other with handfuls of red dirt. Ryuya tripped and rubbed her damaged joints. Even from this distance the elders could sense the surge of chakra Chi allowed in Ryuya's system to ease her pain. The girl smiled and jumped up again, throwing dust in their faces.

"We would become insane." He answered with sad eyes.


	17. The faith we have

It was early. A tad too early for ordinary people to be awake, but the group gathered outside a rather dull-looking building was not made of ordinary people. They were assassins, dangerously armed to the teeth. They had skills that civilians could never hope to have. Worst of all, they had just started puberty.

Naruto bounded up and down on his feet, sweaty hands shoved in the pockets of his atrocious orange jumpsuit. Sakura was mimicking a hamster biting her fingernails and Sasuke was... well, Sasuke. Only a tad more nervous.

Ino's team crouched in a corner because their paper bags had torn under the weight of Choji's snacks and now they had to stall them in front of them like a pick-nick except that they were guarding them. Also, Shikamaru wanted to take a nap.

To their left, Hinata was getting revived from what seemed to be the fifth fainting spell by Akamaru who happily slobbered all over her face. Kiba squatted beside her looking equal parts worried and exasperated. Shino stood there, an occasional bug escaping his collar.

Tenten was apologizing on behalf of her stretching, spandex-clad teammate. She was quite busy. Neji glared at everyone in his view. So at literary everyone.

Team 11 was doing last-minute drills. They somehow got the feeling from their sensei that failing this exam was not an option. Chi was reciting her first grade math-book and discovered that she knew very little. Shinji boasted about her knowledge only to open her notes again a second later. Ryuya had given up and was praying.

The building was from the civilian school so there were no trapdoors, kunai barrage, poison-gas bombs, insane rodents or those funny little papers that you first write on and then discover that they explode. It was safe, spacey and the perfect place for hormonal teens.

More Genin started arriving, some in robes, some with thick jackets bundled up in their arms and others with masks on. Sakura scanned the crowd until she saw the red haired creep with his team turning around the corner. She grabbed Naruto's arm and pressed them against the wall.

Just a few hours earlier, they had run into the other boy, whose name turned out to be Gaara, and he freaked them out. Gaara had taken a special interest in Sasuke and decided to show that by threatening Sakura. That made Naruto angry and then he got the redhead's attention instead.

Only a flash of brilliance from Sakura prevented a fight and they got away safely. Nevertheless, she had felt cold sweat at the base of her neck during the entire opening speech of the Hokage.

The doors of the school opened, startling the Genin. Genma stood in the entrance, grinning lopsidedly and chewing on a senbon.

"Brats!" He got a few angry grumbles in response and cheerfully spat the senbon in front of the protesters. No one spoke up again.

"I hope you all slept soundly and ate your breakfasts. It will be a long time before you get any of those again." He smiled, showing all of his teeth.

"Time for Hell." He stepped aside and let the large crowd enter through the door opening.

Shinji was clutching the yellow sleeve of Chi's haori as they navigated through the mass. Ryuya was holding on to Shinji's hand in turn, but was mostly pulled along by the former. They all squeezed in the narrow hallway and let out a collective sigh of relief when they reached the large room in the center of the school. Staircases ran against the walls and doors were on each side and Shinji wondered which room they had to get. There was no way all of the Genin could fit into one regular classroom.

Chi was taking full advantage of her height and looked over the heads to spot the rest of the Konoha's rookies. She noticed a staircase being blocked by two boys. Team 7 stood in front of them.

"There." She pointed, getting the attention of her teammates. "Team 7 is usually in the middle of the action, so lets go there."

Shinji nodded, sullen "That's true, I sometimes feel like a side character in my own life. Have I told you that?"

"Yes, plenty of times. This morning, for example, when that little boy ignored your greeting." Chi deadpanned. Ryuya snorted.

They reached the other teams just in time to hear Sasuke reveal a Genjutsu that prevented them from entering the right classroom. 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' went up all around them as the two boys transformed back into the Eternal Chuunin and moved aside.

Chi frowned as her mind put one and two together. Once she figured it out, she groaned and hit her forehead. Sasuke turned, a smug smile on his lips. Naruto and Sakura were smiling as well and high fived each other.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke grinned (for as far as an Uchiha can grin).

Chi scoffed "Don't look so smug. You just made everything ten times harder."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura's forehead creased in confusion. Shinji looked at the ceiling, feeling embarrassed on behalf of her crush. Experience had however taught her not to mention said crush in front of Chi.

Chi motioned with her hand to the large group of Genin, waiting to go up to the classroom. "This was definitely the kind of test that would take out the first group, the ones that can't discover a Genjutsu. It was supposed to thin the amount of contestants, but now you've spoiled it for everyone and so everyone who heard it, has passed. You just gave us more competition."

With that, she grabbed her apologetic teammates and marched up the stairs. The rest followed. Sasuke's chakra spiked angrily but he remained quiet.

The classroom they were supposed to enter was C205. It was not big enough and thus another room was quickly prepared by the Chuunin and even some Special Jonin. The latest rookies of Konoha all gathered in front of C205 and entered together.

There were already some Genin inside and, because of Naruto's loud entrance, they were all glaring at them. Shikamaru felt his eye twitch.

"Let's go find a corner." He waved at the group. They followed him to a couple of empty seats and gather around. Shikamaru looked at each of his former classmates and wondered how many would be left at the end. He knew that he had a pretty good chance of becoming Chuunin, but it just seemed so bothersome. He really wanted to give up already.

"You guys are new, huh?" A voice spoke up.

Sakura twirled around, hand on her weapon pouch. The gray-haired boy in front of them smiled and lifted his hands. "Easy, I come in peace."

The group eyed him warily. Chi's eyes started to change, a process so abrupt and intense that her teammates and Naruto felt in their veins. A soft groan of metal came from underneath her haori. Shinji grabbed her wrist and the unpleasant burning dimmed. By that time, Chi's eyes were already yellow.

The boy looked at Naruto and smiled again "My name is Yakushi Kabuto. This is my eleventh time here at the Chuunin Exams, so you could say that I'm kind of an expert."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and said what everyone had been thinking: "Are you that bad?"

"A-ah, well-" Kabuto stuttered "it is pretty tough and I specialize in medical ninjutsu so I have to rely on my team a lot."

Sakura frowned but didn't say anything. Kabuto perked up and reached into his pocket. He retrieved a pack of cards and waved it at them.

"I wanted to tell you about this. These cards are special, you see?" He spread them out on the table, revealing a blank side. The Genin gathered around the table.

"They are empty now, but when I send my chakra in-" a list of statistics appeared on the card, with Naruto's name on top, "they reveal the skills and identities of shinobi. Pretty cool huh?" He grinned.

Naruto and Kiba were enthusiastic and demanded more. Team 11 had gone still. Shikamaru glanced at them and almost winced when he saw Chi's eyes. They were burning and fixated on Kabuto. Ryuya quietly walked aside and looked at the rest of the teams. Shinji's expression was tight.

"We actually need to talk, before the exams." She spoke suddenly, gesturing at the Konoha rookies. "If you don't mind?"

Kabuto looked at her and nodded "Sure, I'll see you guys after the first round then. Don't fail!"

He left with a wave and his cards. Kiba scoffed "What was that about?"

Chi spoke curtly, crossing her arms. "Use your brain."

Shinji sighed and quickly took over before Kiba could retaliate with some less polite words. "Think about it: he just randomly shows up and is all smiley faced while everyone else is prepared to kill one another. Then he shows us these cards, even though they are immensely valuable to passing this exam. And finally, how did he even get that information on Naruto? It is supposed to be classified for anyone outside of Konoha."

The group fell quiet. Naruto turned pale and tugged at his jacket. Shikamaru yawned and scratched his head.

"We need a backup plan."

Ino hugged herself. "What are you talking about? We are supposed to defeat each other."

"We just need to be able to contact each other when it gets necessary." Shikamaru explained, while keeping an eye on Chi. The girl was following Kabuto's movements from across the classroom like an eagle. She did seem to pay attention to the group though, because she spoke up next.

"I have a method, but we need to be quick and make sure no one sees us." Her eyes flickered over her former classmates. The yellow was still as intense as before, and still just as mesmerizing. Sakura felt herself being drawn towards them and she just knew that she wasn't the only one who felt like that.

Half an hour later, their teacher (Akumo Mize-something, no one really paid attention) had entered the classroom and explained the rules in a manner that made even Sakura fall asleep. He was a young man, dressed like a monk with a bad bowl-cut and stupid little glasses perched on the end of his pointy nose. He managed to turn the horror story that is the Chuunin Exam into something less thrilling than the annual meeting of the Land of Fire's accountants.

That meeting was infamous because at the end of the three days, most bodyguards and staff members get admitted in the psych ward, mumbling about numbers and coffee. The rest has to be kept away from windows and sharp objects for at least a month afterwards.

Needless to say, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru and Ryuya had already succumbed to a pleasant nap. They only woke up when the buzzer went off to announce the start of the test in both classrooms. The test started and soon the Genin were in a state of hysteria.

Chi however, had something else on her mind. Kabuto's presence behind her was grating on her already frayed nerves. There was a scent, a nagging memory at the back of her mind, that had sent her in a fit of panic.

 _Danger. Monster. Kill them all._

The voices from her clan drifted up to her. She _knew_ that smell, it was too distinct and too important.

She sighed and decided to focus on her test first. The first question had her wondering what paragraph or book or grade she had skipped while studying.

' **When a Chuunin level-shinobi is surrounded by six rogues in a forest where it has not rained in weeks, what jutsu's should he use?** '

' **Note that he only has three-quarters of his chakra levels left and he is two days away from his hometown. Also note that he has only one hand and the rogues are fully armed and Jonin-level.** '

 ****' **Extra credit: give us the exact hand-signs needed to perform this jutsu.** '

Chi stared and felt her heart coming to a slow halt. She just managed to scrawl " _R.I.P."_ before her head dropped on the table.

Ryuya licked the tip of her pen, smacked loudly and wrote: _He should get some poison and drink or eat it. He should be able to do so with only one hand. I wouldn't recommend using ink as I am still breathing and apparently ink is not poisonous. It does taste really bad, so you should spit it out. Maybe some berries would wor- oh wait, the forest is dried out so the berries are dead as well._

 _He should ask the rogues for some poison then!_

She looked at it for a moment and then drew a nice little picture underneath.

 _Well,-_ Shinji wrote down carefully- _he should kill himself honorably and wait for my teammates and I to arrive in the afterlife._

Shikamaru yawned and scribbled: _He should Body-flicker the Hell out of dodge._

Ino took his body over and copied the answer, then took Choji's body and wrote the answer for him. She was going to be very tired by the end.

Naruto's version of the question was near unreadable because of his tears dripping on the paper. Sasuke's answer would later assure him a meeting with a psychologist and a biologist as well as an anger management session with the Hokage. Sakura had written about four paragraphs with detailed illustrations and with no signs of stopping yet.

Kiba and his loyal companion were hunched over their desk and attempted to smell the right answer. Hinata- after a rather long and intense moment of anxiety- activated her Byakugan and looked at Shikamaru's paper and then at Sakura's and summarized them on her own paper. Shino's bugs were crawling over the floor, stealthily creeping up on the resident geniuses and relaying the answers through some Aburame magic.

All in all it took the rookies of Konoha a good fifteen minutes to get their act together and work up something legible. In the other room, Team Gai was doing as expected. Neji used his Dojutsu, Tenten made brilliant use of her weapons as mirrors and copied Neji's answers. Rock Lee was quite unfortunate to be sitting in the first row with Gaara just a couple of seats behind him on his left. The redhead had covered one eye with his hand and the other was fixated on Lee's head.

The latter was frozen in his seat, looking straight ahead without blinking, hands clenched on his table and rivulets of sweat gushing down his forehead and neck. His face was growing red and a vein in his neck was growing thicker and thicker by the second. He had yet to pick up his pencil or to look at his paper. Their proctor- fourth cousin of Kiba's father's uncle's son's neighbor's daughter- Inazuka Rai with a teacup poodle, quietly got up and went to ask for a medic.

The torture went on for another two hours after which both proctors got up and requested for some attention. Akumo Mize-thingy rang a teeny tiny bell, the Inazuka let his poodle bark. Neither method should be regarded as effective in situations other than a room full of tense, shinobi kids working in dreadful silence. Actually, even if the classroom is full of tense, shinobi kids working in dreadful silence, this method might result in death.

Many of the assistant proctors in Akumo's classroom woke up from their nap caused by the earlier speech and were almost immediately lulled back to sleep by the former.

The surprise question was explained (Give up, fail your entire team but get a shot at next year VS Fail the last question and you and your entire team can not compete again. Ever. It's a matter of team bonding really.) and then some kids started crying, one suffered a heart attack, the other had a seizure etc.; it was really messy.

Naruto was pretty sure he was going to explode like a can of soda. His hands were shaking, his brain was working more than it had ever done before, and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.

His hand moved up on his own, eliciting a muffled gasp from some Konoha rookies. Only Sakura's voice sighed in something like relief. A surge of energy shot through his body and his raised hand came down on his table, hard enough to send his paper flying. He didn't care, it wasn't like he had actually written anything.

"You think you can scare me? I am _never_ giving up and you better believe it!" He breathed hard and stared just as hard at the proctor.

The latter was staring back, completely bewildered and nodded timidly.

"Good speech. You all pass." He squeaked and the class erupted in confused cheers. The other room had gathered around Lee and attempted to bring him back to life. Neji, stepped forward, kicked him where the sun doesn't shine and Lee woke up. It was intense.

Later on, when the brats where whisked away by an overly giddy Genma, the proctor went to gather the papers. As he reached down to grab Naruto's, he stopped and groaned.

His back had given up on him again.

The kids meanwhile had arrived at the entrance of the Forest of Death. Chi was restless, scratching her arms and looking around. The scent that hung around Kabuto was stronger here, mixed with the undeniable sweet metallic perfume of blood. The Konoha rookies, as a result of Chi's nervousness, became distracted. Choji had even lost his appetite.

Sometime after Genma had explained the rules and every group had received one of the two scrolls, he casually strolled to the group of elder Nara's. Keeping his smile on, he relied his observations.

"Ketsueki Chi is hella nervous. I got a feeling something big is going to happen, we need to keep an eye on her."

One of the men shook his head "We can not meddle with the test. They all know the risks."

Genma's smile slipped off "Yeah, but what if she loses it? You remember what happened before, right?"

The other man sighed "Better than you, boy. Still, we have no choice but to wait. Those kids are smart, if something were to happen-"

"Chi is the only fighter on her team." Genma interrupted but didn't elaborate, suddenly sensing a feint Killer Instinct in the air.

The Nara's froze and slowly got up. Genma turned around and bit his senbon in half. The Genin looked ready to slaughter each other on the spot. A little away from them stood Team 11. Shinji and Ryuya were talking to Chi, obviously trying to calm her down. Chi herself seemed to struggle with herself. Her bright yellow eyes were flitting over the crowd until they found Genma's.

The Chuunin's breath hitched. "I've got to go to her." 

But he barely took a step forward, when the other proctors blew their whistle and send the groups to their own gates. They would be in that cursed forest for at least the next five days. The eldest of the Nara's patted his shoulder.

"It's out of our hands now. We can only have some faith. Besides, I am sure that there won't be another bloodbath this time."

Genma closed his eyes and blamed the remains of the Ketsueki's Killer Intent for the sudden flashback.

At the time of those Chuunin Examns, he had been barely ten years old. They were hosted in Konoha as well and the second exam was in an open field. It was remembered as the most nauseating exams in history.

The Genin were supposed hold out for five days in a field nearby the village. Everything was allowed. It sounded easy but with barely enough hiding places, no food or fresh water and high running tension between the groups, it became a horror story. The Genin attacked each other for every little morsel of food, for every hiding place and for every weapon they could find. To make matters worse, it was held during a particularly hot summer. In the end the ANBU had to be called in to guard the field and make sure no one would escape. 

Among the Genin that year, were a couple of Ketsueki; a girl and twin boys. They were all in separate groups and at first seemed to be the designated survivors. They were strong, well trained and didn't need water or food to keep fighting. However, no one seemed to have taken into account what the generous amount of blood surrounding them would do to the blood drinkers.

The first day the trio worked well within their teams, dispatching the other Genin and dragging the bodies in the shadows. The second day, their teammates were weakened and thus the Ketsueki went out alone to find some food or water.

On the third day, the temperature shot up to the point where no one ventured out at day. They were all waiting in the sparse shadows, covering themselves with their clothes. That night, the night of the third to the fourth day, screams were heard all over Konoha.

On the fourth day, the Ketsueki's didn't bother to hide their drinking methods. They drained the bodies in the middle of the field. It was a sight that made even the toughest of ANBU sick. Many of the other contestants begged to be released, they wanted to give up. They were not allowed. The bodies started to rot in the warmth of the sun. Some Genins resorted to cremating the dead and that caused a raging fire that nearly scorched everything inside it. The ANBU did step in at that time to ensure there would be some survivors left.

On the fifth day, the grass had turned red. The smell of blood hung over the village for the next week. The remaining contestants had hidden themselves underneath the bodies. The Ketsueki trio was forced out of the field by their clan members. Their eyes were wide and yellow, blood was smeared all over their faces and dripped down from their arms. They were taken away and no one saw them again.

Genma had spent the first couple of days in the classroom, anxiously looking forward to the weekend when he was free to watch the Exams. When Saturday finally arrived, he rushed to the field despite his brother's protests and got as close as possible. What he saw on that field still made him queasy and now, as he watched the last of the Genin disappear behind the trees, he wondered how this one would turn out.


	18. Surival of the soldiers

The trees shot past her, a blur of brown and green and it was still not fast enough. Her hair whipped around her, covering her eyes and she cursed her vanity. Naruto was screaming something incoherently and the view turned orange. The clones launched so many attacks at once, Sakura wouldn't have been surprised if the whole forest was destroyed. The sounds left her ears ringing and filled her mouth with smoke. She could sense Sasuke next to her, Sharingan activated and spinning.

The man who was chasing them, had attacked somewhere in the early morning before the sun had even peeked over the trees. They had been napping, switching guards after each two hours. The previous day had consisted of walking along the road Naruto remembered from going to the Ketsueki district. In the distance there had been some screams but nothing came close to the. They argued, exchanged some insults and decided to find some food and water. They failed at that and went to bed hungry, thirsty and tired.

When the attack started, Sasuke had been on guard. Later both Sakura and Naruto would blame his lack of vocal talents for their near death experience. An explosive tag landed between their bodies and it was only because of Naruto's heightened senses, that they managed to get away. The trio gathered as far away as possible and studied their opponent.

The opponent called them out in a silky voice, with long black hair waving behind him. The face was pale, with yellow eyes and a flat nose. He wanted Sasuke and the fact that he said it like that, made him even more creepy. The discussion had soon transformed to a fight, only for the Genin to discover that the man was way stronger than they were. Sakura doubted even Kakashi could take him on.

They fled as soon as the first hundred shadow clones filled the field, surprising the snake-man. Sakura's heart was in her throat. They had yet to find another scroll- the Earth scroll- and with this weirdo chasing them, they might never find it. She fumbled with her bracelet and found the right charm. The seal activated and produced three tiny balls; experiments that Sakura had never used before.

"Hold your breath." She panted to her teammates.

They grunted and she threw the balls behind her. The resulting wave of hot, scorching energy and perfume knocked all of them forward. As they landed on a gigantic branch, Sakura wondered why on earth she had used so much glitter. The forest behind them was covered in pink dust, with glitters all over the place. The prettiness was just a cover though, beneath it every plant and animal suffered large burns and had inhaled a- be it weak- poison that caused severe migraine and nausea.

"What was that?" Naruto panted.

Sakura shrugged, too out of breath to talk. Sasuke wiped his forehead "Let's keep movin-"

The man emerged from the distance, far too fast for them to react. He was pink, would be finding glitter in his hair after a decade and smelled like roses, but the burns on his face and chest were the most gruesome the trio had ever seen.

"That wasn't very nice." He grinned, with only half his face on.

He stretched his back and the bared sinews moved along. Naruto looked away. The man's mouth opened, and kept opening until his head was thrown backwards and still kept on opening. Sakura reached out to her teammates and they stumbled backwards at her pull, too stunned to actually flee.

"Guys..." She croaked, and shrieked when a hand shot out of the opened jaw. "Guys! We need to run!"

Startled out of their shock, the Genin turned on their heels and hightailed themselves out of there. Sakura turned midair, fought the bile rising up at the sight of a head appearing, and threw another bomb down. This one exploded in a blue powder. She didn't wait to see the results and just ran.

"Where are you going?" The effeminate voice stopped them all dead in their tracks.

The man smiled at them, completely healed as if there had never been any injury in the first place. The tips of his sleeves were blue but the poison apparently had no effect on him. Sakura felt her stomach turn and summoned her kunai to her hands. Sasuke gulped and clenched his fists. There was a scent in the air that caused a swarm of wasps to fly around in his stomach. Fear crippled him, made sweat pour down his neck. It was growing heavier with the second.

 _Stop it!_

He reached for his kunai with shaking hands and forced the tip in the softest part of his thigh. The pain cleared the fear from his mind, kick-started his brain and stopped the trembling.

"Spread out." He hissed and the other two obeyed without a second word.

 _Now we are working together huh?_ Sakura thought wryly. She crouched vertically against a trunk and clutched her weapons. They had already decided that she should always stay above the battlefield and use the view to direct her more destructive teammates. Now, when she watched her teammates facing off against a fully grown shinobi with the ability to shed his skin, she hated her position.

One of the snakes spotted her and launched its purple body at her. Sakura wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel glad but she took her chance and tore its neck open with her kunai. Another one came and she was forced to go to the lower branch. Soon there was snake gore all over her clothes and hair and she wondered why she always wished for the wrong things.

Naruto and Sasuke took turns in attacking but it was as if they weren't even doing anything. The snake man dodged them or just deflected them with his hand. Naruto's clones were working closely with Sasuke, transforming themselves into weapons and creating distractions so that Sasuke could use his Fireball jutsu. Nothing worked.

The snake man instead formed a seal and the whole branch they were fighting on, started to shudder. Snakes appeared from every nook and cranny, purple and in every size. Sakura launched herself to a nearby tree and send out kunais and bombs. She was pretty sure that she needed some for the rest of the exams but right now they needed to survive.

Team 7 worked together to fight the snakes and also keep an eye on the man, but it proved to be a near impossible task. Naruto cried out and stumbled back, a large snake attached to his shoulder, covering most of his upper torso with its massive jaw. Sasuke would have been lying if he didn't feel his heart stop for a moment. Naruto was bend over as far as he could, his hand limp and the other one prying at the snake. As a result the snake only put more force in his bite.

A wave of heat washed over the ground. Naruto grabbed the snake and savagely tore it off. The fangs remained buried in his chest before he yanked them out. Blood spurted out and spattered down on the snakes. His upper lip curled up, his back curved and his eyes turned a bloody red. The stream of blood died down.

Naruto growled and charged at the man, destroying the snakes on his path with chakra alone. His teammates took a moment to recover from the shock and to adjust to the thick layer of Killer Intent before attacking again.

The snake man smiled widely as Naruto mindlessly started to fight. His chakra formed a dense coat around him, scorching everything near it. The man stopped defending and a well charged punch from Naruto hit him straight in the chest. The man grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and stretched his arms so that Naruto was hanging in front of him, far out of reach.

"Ah, the Jinchuriki. How nice to finally meet." He whispered excitedly and reached out to lift Naruto's shirt, revealing the seal now visible against the pale skin. He studied it for a moment, fixated on the black lines.

"Let's see," his free hand ignited with purple flames "this should do the trick!"

He put his hand against the seal and watched as a new seal formed over the previous one. Naruto gasped and struggled to flee but eventually fell limp and unconscious. The man tossed him aside, just as Sakura turned to look. Her horrified scream made Sasuke turn, and in that moment, the snake man shot up to him and grabbed the boy.

"No!"

Sakura charged at them but was stopped by the many snakes still squirming around. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke struggling against the bigger man and then watched the man's neck stretch out and bite Sasuke. He too, fell down, unconscious and slowly slipping from the branch.

"I'll look forward to the results!" The snake man called sweetly and waved his hand. The snakes disappeared alongside him and Sakura was left with her two teammates and a whole lot of problems. She looked between them, wishing she could just wake up and start over. Her attention went to Sasuke who was steadily becoming more and more vertical. A snake corpse slide past him and plunged towards the ground.

Biting back her fear, she Flickered to Sasuke, pulled him back on the branch and hoisted him up on her shoulder. He was heavy, but now was not the time to be a weakling. Sakura quickly ran to Naruto and braced herself. With one arm she lifted his limp torso from the bark and pulled him on her free shoulder. She set off on weak knees, going northeast from their battlefield.

Her memory supplied her with an old map of the forest which she had seen in the library. Praying that it hadn't been outdated too much, she turned left and jumped until there were no more trees left and she came across a depression in the ground. By now there was a sharp pain in her chest and her lungs were on fire. Sweat gushed down her neck and her muscles were cramped. She jumped to the ground, nearly fell over, and went to inspect.

There was a formation of rocks scattered around the ground. Hoping to find shelter, she walked around some and discovered a small cave. Shaking from exhaustion, Sakura went to lay the boys down (it seemed more like she was throwing them down, but she could not be bothered) on the ground and carefully dragged them inside. The inside turned out to be much bigger then it seemed and soon the trio was set up in the camp.

Sakura's vision blurred as she tried to check Naruto's pulse. It was still there, strong and fast so she left him. Sasuke's neck was hot to touch and his pulse was too fast. She stumbled and had to support herself with her hands on the ground. Sweat dripped down, past her nose and mixed with drops of saliva. She felt sick, having had no time to eat or drink since they got into this forest yesterday. The fight and the tension that hung over the place like fog, had drained her reserves faster than she had counted on. Her arms trembled and she sat back on her knees, letting her head fall back.

She crawled to the wall and leaned against it, letting the coldness seep in and offer some relief to her heated body. Her fingers found her bracelet and she counted the charms until she reached the one she had added at the very last second. A red, film encased pill dropped in her hand. A soldier pill. The one Genin were not allowed to take because their bodies weren't developed enough.

Sakura popped it in her mouth and swallowed it dry. She had to defend her team. The pill had an almost instantaneous effect. It set her body on fire, made her muscles clench and her chakra flare. Her vision cleared, her heartbeat slowed and she felt ready to go for another round, or ten.

 _Easy to become addicted to these..._ Sakura wasn't ignorant to the side effects: sudden rage, less control over actions and emotions. She also knew that, once the pill was starting to wear off, she would collapse. That would be a concern for later, she decided, perhaps the boys would be awake by then.

With her energy restored, Sakura set out to make traps outside their camp. She needed to find water and some food as soon as possible. Thus she made some small traps near the bushes, hoping to catch a rabbit or something.

She climbed over the boulders above their cave and watched from the top. A meager breeze of cool air blew in her face, playing with her hair as she navigated down the rocks to where she saw a glimpse of water shimmering in the light. There was tiny stream of water crawling beneath the rocks. Sakura reached out and cupped her hands. She brought the muddy water to her lips and carefully tasted it. It was fresh, but far from clean. She took her water bottle from her pouch and filled it.

Her first two traps were still empty when she checked them, but the third contained a rabbit already choked to death by the wire around the neck. The pinkette gulped and went to retrieve the animal.

Eager to go back to the cave, she left in a hurry without checking her surroundings. The shadow high up in the trees remained unseen.

Back in the camp, nothing had changed. The boys remained still on their backs as Sakura made a fire and started boiling the water she had gathered in a metal pot, silently thanking Chi for helping her with the storage seals. Though Sakura could not use them as much as the other girl (they required a small amount of chakra each time they were activated), she decided that they were perfect for transporting cooking supplies and a medicine bag.

She busied herself with cooking and taking care of the two unconscious boys. When darkness fell over the forest, her nerves shot up. The sounds of the night were all around her. Nocturnal creatures called out to each other, walked out of their hiding places and began their hunts. Sakura's mind involuntarily went back to Kakashi's story.

 _How many monsters still live here?_

She shivered and pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands in a futile attempt to feel cozy.

 _It's going to be a long night._

And it was. Sakura remained awake, staring at the pitch black hole that lead to the outside world. The soldier pill didn't wear out until the first rays of sun hit her feet and she felt her body shake. Forcing a piece of meat down her throat, she tried her best to stop gagging. Today she had to execute her plan, the plan that she created during the night. It was risky at best and she was sure that it would have never been allowed by Kakashi, but he wasn't here.

To be sure, she took a soldier pill and left it inside her mouth, in her left cheek. If she was discovered and it came to a fight, she would be able to take it easily and if it didn't come to a fight she could just spit it out. She wiped her hands on her shirt and rolled the sleeves up. Her hair stuck to her forehead and she swiped it up. The heat of the morning sun managed to pierce the forest even when the light had taken much longer.

When she stepped outside, she was met by silence. There were no birds that chirped happily in this place. The closest thing was a caw in the distance or a squeak of a mouse before it was killed. In this silence, Sakura could hear her own heart beating like a drum. Her hands twitched, her chakra was pushed to her extremities and not a moment to soon.

A weight pushed into her back and send her flying, away from the cave's entrance. Sakura recovered in the air and used the rock she landed on, to push back and charged at the intruder. It was a Genin dressed in gray bandages and a wicked grin. He dodged her fist and went for a back kick. Sakura flickered away and reappeared above him, fist ready to come down and crush his skull. Instead she hit his shoulder as he moved away.

They stood a few meters away from each other, poised to strike. He was clutching his shoulder, his arm hanging limp. Sakura had charged her fist with chakra and at the last moment, figured that she could poison his chakra with her own.

The effects were stunning. A long, dark line appeared from underneath his sleeve and drew a jagged mark all the way down his hand. His face grew pale and sweat beaded on his forehead. It was fascinating to Sakura.

"Damn you." The intruder hissed.

He looked her straight in the eyes and charged again. This time, Sakura was not fast enough to escape and had to take the full force of the attack. The foreign chakra, however, spread further and clawed its way up his neck. The boy skidded to a halt and fell to his knees. Sakura winced and glanced at the burn mark on her knuckles. She had no idea how much chakra she managed to send in his body, but it had not left her with enough.

 _Yes, I have enough!_

Her eyes brightened and she clenched her fists. She knew that her blood was not of any use to herself, but now there was a bit of foreign blood inside her. Chi's blood. She called upon it, and was surprised at how easy it came to her. But as soon as it came up, Sakura wanted to push it down again.

She too fell down, hands in front of her. She watched in horror as her veins turned black. There was a coldness rising in her, as if she was being drowned in a cold pool of a heavy substance. The pool appeared around her, black and swirling. It took her breath away, pressed down on her skull as she sank in further and further. The darkness surrounded her now.

 _Leave me alone!_

Her mouth filled with the substance. It tasted like iron.

 _Stop!_

Her head was yanked backwards and the liquid fell away from her. Instead the overwhelming heat of the sun came back. She squinted up and realized that another intruder had appeared while she was fighting Chi's blood. A girl scoffed at her, one hand holding up a fistful of pink hair.

" _Wow!" A little blonde girl ran up to her. "Your hair is so pretty."_

 _Is it?_

" _So cool!"_

 _It is bothering me now though..._

 _The blonde multiplied and morphed. The group surrounded her, pointing at her._

 _"Look at that forehead! Hahahaha! So big!"_

 _Yeah, I know. You told me many times._

" _Are you sure you want to be a ninja?" Her mother stared at her, worry and disapproval in her eyes. Sakura wanted to nod, but her mother was already replaced by Chi._

 _Fierce and tall. Eyes forever changing colors. Hair always kept at a manageable shoulder length. That stone cold expression on her face._

 _" At least people realize I am a kunoichi when they see me."_

Sakura gasped. Her head was still held back by the girl who was now calling her fallen teammate.

"Hurry up! What's with you?" She tapped on the floor impatiently. "I can't believe I had to come and save you from _this._ " She looked down in disgust only to find Sakura's green eyes on her.

"Back on earth, princess?" She grinned.

Sakura summoned a kunai in both her hands.

"That is not going to save you." The Genin winked and looked back at her teammate.

Sakura's arm came up and cut her hair in one smooth move. She rotated on her knees and slashed the knees of the other girl, who came down with a yelp. Sakura didn't think, she pushed herself up and landed on top of the girl, her kunai buried in her chest. The other Genin gasped, tried to say something but the blood coming up her throat prevented that. Her eyes focused on Sakura for a second before turning glassy and her head fell back.

Sakura rolled off her, staring at the sky for a moment. There was a cry from the other side and she sat up. The boy was struggling to get back up. The lines on his arm were receding quickly.

 _I need to kill him too._

Sakura got up and walked to him. He saw her come closer and tried to flee. He wasn't fast enough. Sakura swallowed and closed her eyes as she jumped to him. Her weight pushed against his back and they both fell to the ground. He was dead before he touched the dirt, Sakura's kunai embedded in his neck. She remained on his back for some time, eyes firmly shut. The nature around them continued on its own.

She took a shivering breath and opened her eyes. The world had become a darker place and she realized that the effects of the soldier pill were now officially gone and she had even less energy than she started with. With a heavy heart, she swallowed the pill in her mouth. She was parched, she realized. The second pill took its time to activate but when it did, it took her breath away. She coughed, dry heaving and shivering. A blessed breeze found its way to her face and relieved some of her nausea.

Sakura got up, wiped the sweat and blood off her hands and gathered the bodies. As she moved the girl, her belt got stuck behind a rock. Sakura frowned and went to take it off. It was made of a rough sort of leather, no decorations and with a few hidden pockets on the inside. One of those pockets was bulging and most likely what had been caught behind the rock. She opened it and retrieved an Earth-scroll.

 _At least something good came out of it._

She pushed the two bodies together, emptied their pockets and tied them together with the belt. She dragged them up the rocks. The ground was treacherous here. For most parts it was quite even, but behind the highest of the rocks was nothing but a gaping descend into darkness. The ground was simply not there. The cliff ended in a river with a current so strong, it made the water look like it was boiling. She pushed them over the edge.

The rest of the day she cleaned up the signs of battle and tried to come up with solutions to her problem. _Her_ problem because the guys weren't that involved at the moment. There was only one soldier pill left in her pouch and it would mean a hospital visit after that. Her body could barely handle the second one. She needed to get them all out of here before she would collapse.

A branch broke outside the cave, her trap had been triggered. Her hands stilled. Sakura spun around and carefully neared the exit. There was a hiss and the place flooded with coldness. Sakura stepped in the pool before she could stop herself. The darkness grabbed her and the current pulled her underwater.

She struggled to surface again and when she did, she saw a figure standing against the light. Panic flooded her system but she was pulled under again. This time the darkness nearly claimed her mind as well. A hand grabbed her arm and started pulling her upward. Sakura fought against it, trying to be free, but it was no use. She rose up from the pool, the liquid falling off her again. She gasped for air and found it. Her eyes were still shut against the light.

"Found you."


	19. He has a name

"Found you." 

Sakura opened her eyes, only to look straight into Chi's pale orange eyes. The other girl let her arm go and Sakura remained hunched for a moment before straightening. She gaped at her former classmate and then flung her arms around Chi. The latter stiffened and barely managed an awkward pat on the back before Sakura released her.

Chi looked her over, for as far as the evening sun allowed it. The pinkette's eyes were red rimmed with dark bruises underneath and her skin was nearly translucent. Her heartbeat was clear to Chi's ears, and it was fast. Too fast. 

"What happened?" Chi asked.

Sakura sniffed and rubbed her nose. "We got attacked by some strange man who could summon snakes."

Chi's breath hitched. Sakura felt a stab of heat in her veins but she blamed it on the soldier pill. She continued explaining.

"He did something to Naruto and then he bit Sasuke and now they are both unconscious and I don't know what to do!" She nearly fell over if not for the dark haired girl who grabbed her shoulders.

"And what's happened to you?" Chi reached behind her and twirled a short strand of pink her between her fingers. Sakura looked away.

"Had to cut it to free myself in a battle."

"And what is happening on the inside?" Chi's voice lowered, her eyes straight on Sakura's.

"I had to take a soldier pill. And then another one..." Sakura mumbled guiltily.

"Damn it Sakura, do you want to die?!" Chi exclaimed, her hands up in the air. "Two soldier pills? Jonins can't take that much in a _week_ and you took them in what- twodays?!"

Sakura winced but could not reply because suddenly there was a hand on the base of her neck, spreading a delicious coldness through her heated body. Chi pushed her gently towards a wall and let her sit down.

"Rest for now, try to wear this pill out using my chakra. It's consuming your muscle mass now to produce energy and it will only become worse if you keep moving."

Sakura could only nod and slumped against the cool rocks. Chi watched her for a moment and then went to tend to the two boys. She crouched next to Naruto and started to check his breathing.

Sakura looked at her through her eyelashes. As far as she knew, team 11 was against all odds very close. It seemed that Chi had reluctantly become a pillar of support for the two girls. Which made it strange that Chi was all alone now. Sakura was certain that neither Shinji nor Ryuya would stray this far from Chi in a battlefield.

"Where is your team?"

Chi turned around, one knee on the ground. "We got attacked and Ryuya got herself injured, a leg fracture I think. Shinji is guarding her now."

"But then- why are you here?" Sakura lifted her head, feeling more and more nervous now.

Chi apparently sensed that, by the way her eyes turned paler, but she showed her hands instead. "I am the real Chi, don't worry. I felt Naruto's outburst all the way from our position and then sensed yours and Sasuke's. Figured it was best to check up on you."

Sakura nodded and Chi went back to work. She had felt that intense chakra again. She had encountered it in her childhood, in the Land of Waves and again two days ago. It had nearly consumed her and still made her shiver but she pushed those thoughts away. Chi sighed, checked if Sakura was looking at her (she wasn't sleeping but had closed her eyes with determination) and gathered her energy.

A ring appeared around her pupils and revealed Naruto's veins pumping all his chakra to the vicinity of his belly, ending in a whirlpool of energy around his bellybutton. Chi blinked and the image faded. She reached out and pulled Naruto's shirt up.

Chi's hands were shaking and she clenched them into fists. There was a very large seal painted on Naruto's stomach, circling his bellybutton. It was a seal she had seen plenty of times in the books of her grandmother. As a child she had seen it being performed twice. Afterwards, there were only stories with one in particular that stood out and was repeated plenty of times. It was about a great sacrifice on a night full of blood and destruction.

 _It all makes sense._

She faintly noticed that she was on both knees now, knuckles digging in the dirt. She looked at it again and froze. There was an extra circle. She leaned forward, turning her head to see it better. Around the original Dead Demon Consuming Seal there was another circle, an unfamiliar one to Chi. She squinted and tried to recall what the specific characters did. It wasn't an exceptionally strong seal, much less unique, but there was no way she would try to release it.

She put a hand on top of the seal and immediately retracted it. The chakra had reacted to her touch and it pulsed in her head. She yanked Naruto's shirt over his belly and sat besides him. Chi remained seated for a moment until the headache subsided. She rubbed her hands and turned away from her friend to go and see the Uchiha.

Sasuke was paler than usual. There was a thin layer of sweat on his skin and there was again a current of chakra concentrating on a single point. Chi reached out and pulled his collar back.

 _Orochimaru._

Her face contorted. The braces hummed alarmingly. It was the Cursed seal of Heaven. A techniques that could easily destroy Sasuke's mind as the boy would take advantage of his increased strength and durability. Knowing Sasuke, he would use it even if he knew what it would do. He would do anything for the power to kill his brother.

Chi hated the seal, hated it from the moment a young shinobi had stumbled in their clan, reeking of alcohol and clutching a deep cut in her neck. She had tried to cut the seal out, she had explained, it hadn't worked obviously. The woman had asked them if they were able to get rid of it, seeing as no one seemed to be able to. She wanted it removed or die, it was ruining her.

The seal was meant to be permanent. Too bad that it had its roots in the Ketsueki sealing techniques.

Chi summoned a small blade and made a cut over the length of the palm of her hand. She focused on her hand and prayed that she had not forgotten the technique. Blood welled up and turned dark as she mixed her chakra in it. With her free hand she pulled Sasuke's head and shoulders on her lap and pushed his collar further away.

Chi took a breath. _Here goes nothing._

She pressed her bleeding palm against the Cursed Seal and hissed as the contact made her skin burn. Licking her dry lips, she send a quick prayer to her grandmother who had been intent on teaching Chi everything she knew.

" _Ketsueki style: Hell's Purging Seal!_ "

The blood circled around her palm, encasing the other one. A new seal formed and from it appeared branches that spread out over Sasuke's neck. The Cursed Seal reacted violently, turning the white skin gray before it was enveloped by the Blood Seal. The black ink got pulled apart by the scarlet lines and receded. The red seal dissolved slowly and the skin turned pink.

Chi fell back, panting heavily and sweating. She held the back of her injured hand over her eyes as she tried hard to catch her breath. Her ears were ringing and her heart beat in her throat. Her hand throbbed painfully and she closed her fist again,

"Chi?"

The girl opened one eye and turned her head towards Sakura. The latter anxiously glanced between Chi and Sasuke and had already reached Naruto's side.

"What are you doing?"

Chi shook her head and forced the words out "It's- Ah- Orochimaru."

Sakura's frown fell off when the name clicked with her. "You mean..."

Chi nodded and turned her eyes towards the ceiling.

"But then-"

"Naruto... Needs help. I fixed Sasuke..." Chi regained some control over her breath again and pushed herself up the ground. "He just needs a check up with a doctor."

She pushed his head off her lap and got up from the ground. Sweat ran down her neck and she was parched. "I need to get Shinji and Ryuya here. We have a very big problem."

Sakura jumped up and went to support Chi as she walked to the wall. Chi send her a small smile.

"Thanks. That damned Seal nearly necked me. Orochimaru is way too powerful."

"Tell me about it." Sakura mumbled, leaving the complicated questions for later. "We would've been dead if he hadn't stopped his attack."

They lowered themselves on the ground, leaning back against the rock. Chi sighed and flexed her fingers. The blood had stopped flowing, but there were blisters forming as far as on her wrist while the center of her palm was scorched black. Sakura's eyes grew wide at the sight.

"What happened?"

She grabbed Chi's hand and immediately reached to the seal on her pouch where she had hidden her medical supplies. Chi sat silently as Sakura worked on cleaning the wound, carefully dabbing a potion on the burned skin. She then grabbed a little pot of salve and put a generous amount on the blisters. When she reached for her stitching kit, Chi stopped her.

"No need. My skin can renew itself."

Sakura gawked at her. Chi shrugged and inspected her hand.

"Looks good, thank you." She carefully formed a very familiar seal.

Two exact copies of Chi appeared in front of them, complete with the burned hand. They nodded at the original and left.

"They are going to get Shinji and Ryuya." Chi sat back with her eyes closed. It didn't seem like she would get up any time soon so Sakura went to get some water for when she woke up.

After she had done that, she went to Sasuke. He looked a lot better now, with a light blush on his cheeks and when she checked, his temperature had gone down as well. Sakura leaned forward over his neck and pushed his shirt aside. There was nothing except for a light bruise on his neck. She leaned back, puzzled.

The clones reappeared some time later, when Chi was fast asleep and Sakura was dripping water in Naruto's mouth. They were carrying a pale Ryuya and an indignant Shinji. Sakura never would've thought that she would be so happy to hear Shinji's swearing again.

Ryuya was put on the ground and Shinji was dropped unceremoniously on her butt. The clones poofed away the exact moment Chi woke with a start. When she assessed the situation, she relaxed and even allowed a grin when her eyes fell on Shinji.

"Yeah, laugh as much as you like. " Shinji muttered darkly as she got up and dusted herself off. "I will make you pay."

Ryuya waved at Sakura and the girls exchanged greetings. Both were surprised to see her short hair and Ryuya offered to even it out. Sakura accepted readily, desperate to have some link to her normal life. She did check on Ryuya's leg first, seeing as it was bruised and unmoving.

Sakura prodded the leg, trying to sense where the fracture was. It was indeed broken and Sakura could only fix the makeshift splint Shinji had made and give some painkillers. Afterwards the girls sat down in a corner and started a careful conversation.

"So, what happened?" Ryuya asked, as she combed the pink hair.

Sakura looked at her teammates "We got attacked by Orochimaru." 

Ryuya's hand stilled. The cave was silent except for Chi who got up with a grunt. She walked to the exit and looked outside. Shinji got up as well and joined her.

"We need to inform the teachers." Chi looked at her friend.

Shinji nodded and then thought of something. "That Kabuto guy..."

"Accomplice." Chi confirmed "I could sense that man's scent all over him."

"And he had those cards, damn." Shinji sighed.

She walked outside and turned back. "Give me a hand will ya? I got a way to get to the teachers without leaving here. I know your communication doesn't work from this distance."

Chi nodded slowly and followed her.

In the cave, Ryuya had started to even out Sakura's hair. She was quiet for a long time before she spoke, startling Sakura.

"We got attacked by the team from Sand. I didn't pay attention and suddenly there was sand around my leg. That redheaded boy, he was like a monster. He almost crushed my leg before Chi got back from fighting the other two. She used the blood of some squirrels to control them and send them at the boy. He crushed them."

Sakura breathed heavily, too afraid to interrupt. _I was right about that guy. And Chi could control squirrels through their blood? Can she control us as well?_

"Chi was fighting all of them at the same time while Shinji got me away. Then suddenly, there was this Killer Intent in the air. You know it right? Chi's Killer Intent is really cold but it's also as if something is rotting."

Sakura frowned but nodded in response.

"It was everywhere. The boy and his teammates were frozen. Chi was... She looked as if she was in pain. She didn't react to us calling her. And my body was burning too." Ryuya paused to untangle a knot.

"When she looked up at us, her eyes were really yellow, you know? A very bad sign, so Shinji fled with me. There was a lot of screaming behind us, and Chi joined us some time later. She seemed tired but the trio was still alive, she said. They were super strong."

"Do you think, that she could have killed them?" Sakura wondered out loud, her question echoing in the

cave.

It took a while before she got an answer.

"I think Chi can kill anyone." Ryuya's voice was quiet. It was a sobering thought.

"She scares me sometimes." The blue haired girl confessed.

Sakura felt wrong, talking behind Chi's back while she had helped her so much.

"Yeah, me too."

Outside, Chi had her hands on Shinji's shoulders. Shinji took a breath and inspected the message again. It was written in code in case it got in the wrong hands. She had also made sure that the pint sized owl in front of her had memorized the entire message.

The owl in question was this close to exploding, from Chi's point of view. The little brown feathers were puffed and the creature was jumping up and down on his spot. Theodore, was his name. A rather lame name for a summon, according to Chi and a very cute one according to Ryuya. Shinji was just excited that she could summon him after weeks of getting eggs and bald newborns.

Theodore could only be summoned if Shinji was either well rested and fed, or borrowing Chi's chakra. So now she leeched whatever chakra Chi had left and summoned the overenthusiastic little owl to perform this crucial task.

"So, you got everything?"

"YES MA'AM!" Theodore saluted awkwardly and Chi hid her laugh in a cough. Last time she had laughed in front of him, he had sulked for a whole day in a tree. No amount of mice could have brought him down and in the end Chi had resorted to requesting a high-profile mission for him to soothe him.

"I got everything! Everything, ma'am!"

"Alright then," Shinji sighed "off you go and be safe!"

"YES MA'AM!" He cried.

The message was rolled up and tied around his collar and the little summon took off. He soared up for a moment and then plummeted down before pulling up just in time to avoid smacking into a tree. His little figure was soon a swaying dot in the distance.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes, Chi." Shinji interrupted her friend, wincing when the little dot almost hit another tree, and turned around. "Let's get back inside. We have got some planning to do."

They entered just in time to see Ryuya try to walk and instead sway dangerously and emptying the bucket of water over Naruto. Naruto then woke up with such a start that Sasuke jolted awake as well and then there were six Genin staring at each other.

"-the bucket." Sakura finished lamely. "Right." _Was that all it took to wake them up?_

Chi sighed and turned around, patting Shinji on the back. "Let's pack up and leave, I'm pretty sure that the whole forest knows we are here."

Sasuke, for his part, was still gawking at his former classmates. He turned to Sakura, eyes wide. "What the hell happened?"

Naruto jumped up and pointed at her. "Sakura-chan, your hair!"

Sakura felt like crying. She just waved and went to pack her stuff. "I'll fill you guys up on the way."

"Wait! What about- that thing... The scroll!" Sasuke had never looked so bewildered before. Shinji wished that she had brought a camera.

Sakura pulled the two scrolls out of her pouch. "I got the second one."

Not even questioning it, the two boys nodded. Then Sakura looked up "What about you guys?"

Shinji grinned "We stole one right in the beginning. I think those guys are still tied up there."

"Huh, nice work." Sakura gave her a thumb up.

They all looked up when Chi's voice came from outside. "Let's go already!"

And so they did. The camp was cleared out, traces wiped away and soon they were all running high above the ground. Naruto felt like he had energy for days and he could no longer control it. He nearly crashed in Chi's back who simply pulled him straight, much to his surprise. Sasuke was dizzy but not about to show it. He muttered something about protecting the back and didn't try to overtake Naruto.

The group of six had very little stops. Once when Chi took Ryuya over from Shinji and once more for Naruto to carry Sakura who had started to shiver. The second soldier pill was breaking her muscles down and she felt like vomiting.

Sasuke had no complains about the delay. He was looking rather pale himself. Chi wouldn't have been surprised to see him faint but the boy's pride kept him on his legs.

The trees were a green blur around them and it was all they could do to keep themselves from falling over out of plain exhaustion. In the end they had to stop when even Chi started openly showing signs of weariness. Out of breath, the Genin leaned against the thick branches while she oriented herself in this massive part of Konoha.

"You know the way, right?" Sasuke panted, slumping downwards until he was crouching.

Chi nodded, wiping sweat off her chin. She pointed eastwards and licked her lips. "That is the nearest exit out of the forest."

She pivoted on her heel and pointed at the opposite direction "That is the tower where we are supposed to meet. It's just outside the forest in a restricted area."

Sasuke wanted to yell at her, but Shinji beat him to it. "Then why the hell are we running the other way?!"

Chi readjusted Ryuya on her back and fixed her teammate with a glare "Because while you guys enjoy running into enemies, I prefer to avoid them. I've been tracking the others ever since we got here, they are all in that direction. Going that way would slow us down because there is no way they won't spot all six of us."

She paused to take a breath. "We have to go in a wide line around the group and use the path alongside the border to get to the tower. It is longer but it is the safest route."

Ryuya peeked over Chi's shoulder and quietly nodded towards Shinji. The latter sighed, annoyed but unwilling to argue. "Fine, let's go that way then."

Naruto looked them over "Well, what are we waiting for? I'm all fired up, believe it!"

 _In the bar~_

Ibiki should have know something bad would happen. (Really, it had only been a couple of months since he started training these brats and his liver was now the size of a beanbag.) He should have known, yet his heart still skipped a beat when a tiny owl shot straight at his face, barely missed it and instead fell face first in a collection of shots ordered by Asuma. Ibiki took a breath, downed his shot and lifted the bird by its claws.

The Jonins in the bar gathered around him, curious to see what was happening. Ever since the start of the second exam, they had taken to spending every bit of free time in either the bar or at the finish line. It didn't help when right after the start, Genma had told them to watch out for trouble.

"It's Shinji's summon." The torturer-turned-teacher explained. The little owl nodded, out of breath and soaked in alcohol, much to his dismay.

"What's up?" Ibiki tried to act calm.

Theodore heaved and shook the liquid out of his feathers. There was a small scroll in the pouch around his neck. Ibiki snatched it before the little owl could open its beak. He read it once, then twice and then a final time.

"I need more vodka." He leaned over the bar, feeling very tired and very horrified.

Theodore hopped over and patted his arm sympathetically. "If I may, Sir. It is much worse in reality."

Ibiki groaned and dropped his head in his hand. Theodore jumped in the sink and turned the knob to wash himself.

"Ibiki?" Kakashi stood next to him, one hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" 

Ibiki scanned the room, it was empty except for his trusted friends.

"Orochimaru."


	20. Hunting Season

Two soldier pills. Taking just one was plenty of damage even for himself, but two? For a Genin? . Kakashi wrung his hands together, trying to direct his need to fight to himself.

 _This one is on me._ He thought bitterly. _I should have prepared them better._

His three students were now in a forest with a rogue Sannin and he was here, waiting on a hard, wooden chair for the Hokage to reappear from his office where he had closed himself and Ibiki off from the rest. Kakashi had quietly trailed them and they didn't stop him, until they reached door to the office. He had to wait, the Third told him.

Kakashi spent five minutes pondering before he was sure that he had waited enough. Patience was never his strong suit and if it were up to him, they had already been scouting the forest and evacuating the students. It had been years since Orochimaru had shown up in Konoha, but the threat he posed was etched upon Kakashi's mind.

What worried him the most was the state of his team. Ibiki let him read the whole letter in the bar and the content weighed on him like lead. His trio of idiots had once again managed to get themselves in life threatening danger. Kakashi wasn't sure if he wanted to throttle them or the people who kept on trying to harm them. He _was_ going to throttle _someone_ and that person might even be the Hokage if he didn't hurry the Holy Hell up.

Just as he was about to break the door, it opened. Ibiki ushered him in. Inside, the Hokage was bend over a map with various figures placed on top. In the far corner of the room stood a full team of ANBU Black Ops. Arms relaxed at their sides, backs straight and with the typical porcelain masks covering their faces. Kakashi thought back to his own mask, taken in by the Hokage, and gave them a quiet salute. The captain of the team nodded minutely.

"Kakashi." The Third leaned back and brought his pipe up. 

"I will cut to the point. Sasuke Uchiha was targeted by Orochimaru himself. A Curse mark was placed on his neck but luckily Ketsueki Chi from Team 11 managed to get rid of it, using one of her clan's Blood Seals."

Kakashi nodded, feeling awkwardly targeted under the Hokage's unwavering gaze. "Yes..."

"Orochimaru then most likely tampered with Naruto's seal. We are not sure what he did or how, but I doubt the Genin know that either."

Kakashi nodded. In the letter, Chi had left a message saying that Naruto had a 'stomach ache'. He was just glad that the giant fox living in said stomach was still there and not rampaging through the village.

"I am sending the ANBU in, as well as guards disguised as Genin to blend in. The Exams must continue."

Kakashi wanted to scream but he was only allowed to nod again. The Hokage sighed and finally looked at Ibiki.

"That other boy, Kabuto, according to your team he is an accomplish of Orochimaru. Make sure Iruka knows and get more guards in the tower. Capture Kabuto, but make sure to take him alone. Orochimaru can't find out about our knowledge of him being here. "

Ibiki nodded and a long silence fell in the room. Each was occupied with their own thoughts. Eventually the Hokage waved at the team of ANBU and they left without a sound. Kakashi's lone eye remained on the map. The Forest of Death was huge, with some parts still not mapped out for safety reasons. He followed the broadest path from the entrance all the way down to the other side. A small circle was drawn there.

 _Ketsueki clan._

He had never been inside the clan district, but instead had trained his Sharingan eye with the Genjutsu's surrounding the wall. The scent of blood was strong there and there was danger behind every tree and in every hidden spot. He once summoned one of his Ninken there, the poor dog landed and promptly activated a trap sending a hundred arrows at him. It was only because of Kakashi's Sharingan that he got saved.

"You two can go." Hiruzen interrupted their daydreaming. A ring of smoke rose up. "Make sure you're prepared once the five days have passed."

Kakashi nodded and left first, afraid of what he might say if stayed too long. He still had two more days until he was allowed to go to his students. He needed to prepare.

"I need to show you something..." Ibiki mumbled remaining in the room, fumbling with something inside his jacket. Hiruzen waited until Kakashi was far out of range and then dismissed all his guards with a tap of his pipe. A vase with one extravagant, rare flower consisting of a single leaf disappeared, there was a soft tap in the air vent above their heads and the door changed color. Ibiki turned his eyes upwards, inwardly cursing the incompetence of the ANBU. For all that they were highly trained assassins and great spies, they had absolutely no common sense or creativity. He also suspected that Anko's Christmas present to the Corps last year might have influenced them. He glanced at the Hokage who was massaging his forehead and felt pity.

When the last ANBU had left the room in the shape of a paper plane, the Hokage turned to Ibiki. "What is it?"

The Special Jonin pulled a thin envelope out of his pocket. "Got this in the mail, yesterday."

He left the envelope on the table and turned around. "You know, it seems like Genma was right after all. I _have_ become quite protective of those brats and I don't care who is threatening them, I will kill them all."

Hiruzen's hand froze on the paper and he didn't move until the other man was out of the door. Then he opened the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of paper. The message was short, the handwriting familiar and it was enough. The Third intertwined his fingers and leaned on his hands.

"It seems like everyone is out for a hunt."

 _In the Forest of Death~_

Chi could not remember a time where she was more tense then today. Her heart was racing, blood thundered in her head and sweat had soaked her haori. Every shadow was an enemy, every sound was a bomb and no one was to be trusted. Ryuya's weight on her back was the only thing keeping her grounded.

Naruto was still struggling to balance himself. He kept jumping too high, resulting in him nearly falling off the branch he wanted to jump on. After the fifth time he tried to adjust his strength but then he could barely reach the other tree. He settled for an awkward single step in between the jumps. He blamed his troubles on Orochimaru and a lack of food. On cue his stomach rumbled loudly and the entire group came to a slow halt, as if they just realized that they were starving.

"Let's see what we got." Sakura suggested, already patting her seals. Her body was on fire and she needed something to drink.

The rest soon followed and the supply was gathered in front of them. Shinji groaned as she looked at the meager bunch. Between the six of them they had one package of crackers, two large, wrinkled apples and a juice box. Sakura managed to find one sealed bag of nuts and Chi had chopped liver in a vacuum sealed bag. Not even Sasuke could stop himself from wrinkling his nose.

Naruto crouched down and sniffed. "Oi Chi, can't we go to your place?"

Chi rocked back on her heels, closing her eyes as if she had a headache. She probably had, Ryuya figured. The veins in her neck were swollen and Chi had tried to avoid as much sunlight as possible on the way.

"I don't think so. We'll be late and we're not allowed to leave thi-" The words died on her lips.

The group looked at her in confusion. Chi slid Ryuya off her back and turned around. She walked two steps back and turned right. She tilted her head for a moment and then went the opposite way. The wind rustled through the leaves, hitting them in their faces and then Naruto got it too. He jumped up, hand ready to form a seal.

"Guys?" Sakura stepped back warily and her knee nearly gave out from exhaustion. Shinji and Sasuke each got one of Ryuya's arms around their shoulders and retreated to the safety of the massive tree.

There was a moment of dead silence. Sasuke felt as if his head was going to explode. There was a dull ache in his stomach, a knot that was pulling him over. His Sharingan activated on its own. There were no signs of any danger around them. He pulled a kunai out of his pouch and held it tight.

"Guys." Sakura urged, voice tight.

Chi slowly turned to them. Shinji gulped when she noticed the bright yellow eyes. Chi's pupil was nearly gone and from a distant she looked as dangerous as a wild animal. Sakura forced herself not to reach for a kunai.

"There are more people here." Naruto jumped back on the branch. "Some other group has joined us."

Chi nodded "They feel like ANBU."

Ryuya relaxed "So they got our message and now they send us help!"

Sasuke turned his Sharingan off "How do you know it's them?" _And why are you both so nervous?  
_

Chi averted her eyes. "I spend a lot of time around them."

Shinji frowned but then perked up. _Owl must be here then. Chi still has her blood._ They were safe now. It didn't explain why the two were so tense. Chi was still expressionless, the yellow of her eyes just as bright. She jumped to another branch and waited for the rest to catch up. Shinji sighed and lifted Ryuya up her back. Sasuke wordlessly offered Sakura his back. 

The remainder of the trip was quiet with only a few moments of nerve wrecking tension when they encountered other Genin teams. They hid themselves high between the leaves and prayed for the best. It luckily did not come to a fight. In fact, they were barely noticed. Soon the finish line was in sight and the group of six sped up.

"Still clear, thank God." Shinji sighed when she landed on the ground.

Sasuke let Sakura slide down and immediately went for the door and pushed it open. They entered warily, unsure of what to expect. The room they ended up in was circular, made of stainless steel and completely empty. Along the walls steel staircases and balustrades spiraled upwards. At the opposite wall was a huge engraving of an elderly warrior posed to strike. The door fell shut with a loud bang, startling the Genin.

Sakura was the first to speak up "So, now what?"

"The scrolls!" Naruto piped up. "Maybe we can open them now!"

Sakura put her hands in her side "Naruto! They told us not to. What if we get disqualified?" 

"Well, one way to find out." Shinji chirped and opened both scrolls with a flick of her wrists.

Ryuya's protests went unheard and the paper unrolled itself. A 'pop' resounded and smoke engulfed them instantly. Naruto shrieked and jumped in the smoke while Chi and Sasuke pulled out their weapons. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and got a kunai out while Chi yanked her kyoketsu-shoge out of her belt.

She squinted, sent a quick prayer, and gathered as much chakra infused oxygen as she dared in her lungs. The gust of wind that followed not only got rid of the smoke, it also stripped Ryuya off Shinji's back and send both girls flying backwards. Naruto was protected by a different figure.

"Jeez Chi, what did I tell you about chakra control?" Iruka stood straight, hair completely blown back and looking as disheveled as he usually did during morning PE.

"Ouch-Yeah Chi, what happened to that lesson?" Shinji scrambled to her feet, eyes sending daggers at her teammate.

Chi wanted to reply but her attention was drawn to Ryuya's small figure, rubbing her bandaged leg.

"Damn!"

Chi ran to her. Shinji swore (which earned her the Raised Eyebrow of You're In So Much Trouble from Iruka) and went to check as well.

Sakura rocked back on her heels and pushed her hair out of her face, wistfully rubbing the short strands between her fingers. Iruka glanced at her worriedly and nodded to himself. The Genin had definitely learned _something_ and it was more than he could hope for. At the edge of his sensory field, he noticed a brief spike of chakra. Of course, he was not alone.

 _Time to see what else they learned, about Orochimaru._

 _In the Hokage office, that evening~_

Hiruzen was looking over the village from his window. The panoramic view was the best at sunset. Golden rays over the streets and a red sky as backdrop, not to mention the mountainside with the carved faces of the Hokages. His village was beautiful even with its dark and nasty secrets. He could almost see the red lines running over the roads, the cracks that revealed the history of Konoha.

Konoha was made out of broken pieces, welded together by unspoken agreements. The blood that stained his own hands was just as real as that one the hands of their most dangerous criminal and the regular Jonin teaching young children.

He learned to live with it, they all did, but some came to enjoy it. Orochimaru was part of the latter. Though the Hokage had to admit that it wasn't senseless killing. Orochimaru had a goal, he wanted immortality and was willing to sacrifice everything and everyone. As a young boy he already possessed strange features but the various experiments he subjected his body to turned him into a physical monstrosity. It pained Hiruzen to see him, even now after all those years.

He found a stain on his thumb. It was ink and would be quite difficult to wash off. His latest messages were of great importance, not just to him, but to the whole of Konoha. They were directed at the only two people Hiruzen knew, who could stop Orochimaru and were still alive. In the back of his mind a headache started to build. It was one he hadn't felt in years. Not since his team graduated, to be precise.

The last rays of the sun shone in his eyes. Tomorrow he had a long day ahead of himself. For tonight he decided to go home on time and enjoy some dinner in his house. For now he was content to look over his village so full of contradictions.

A smile tugged on his lips. It was truly a beautiful moment.

 _That night in the upper floors of the tower~_

Naruto was unable to sleep quietly. Sakura and Sasuke both discovered that. It started out pretty well, with the blond diving in bed and curling up in the far corner against the wall. Five minutes in he farted. One hour later he was snoring. Three hours later and he started to toss and turn. Four hours later and Sakura had to stop Sasuke from smothering him. Then Naruto started to talk. It was mostly incoherent mumbling but Sasuke was pretty sure that it was a dream about ramen seeing as the boy was drooling.

They decided to just leave him and went to the hallway.

As Sakura was about to close the door, she noticed a small zip lock bag hanging from a thread at the door handle. It contained two pair of ear buds and a small note reading 'S & S, Team 7' in Chi's unmistakable sharp scrawl. The duo was flattered and send an appreciative glance at the door on their right.

Team 11 had spent a considerable less amount of time in the infirmary. Ryuya's leg had to be healed with the aid of the lead medic and both Chi and Shinji had shown clear signs of dehydration and exhaustion. The latter two were send away quickly after getting an IV-drip. All they needed was rest and food. Ryuya was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of the time.

Sakura rubbed her arm. Iruka had all but teleported her to the medics when she finally collapsed in a shivering heap after the debriefing. Sakura had spent the better part of the afternoon and evening hooked to multiple machines. They only let her go to her team's room because there was not as much damage as they had expected. Apparently Chi's chakra had kept the potent pill's effects at bay and saved much of Sakura's muscle mass. The nurse had tried to explain the how and why at Sakura's request but it turned out that sleep was a much more important subject. Sakura slept like the dead for hours.

Naruto was checked but an ANBU had quickly stepped in and whisked him away for a private conversation. He returned noticeably more subdued and quietly ate his meal. Sasuke was checked over twice and then told to sit and eat. It was fine with him.

The group of six didn't speak much and when it was time for bed, they all behaved like zombies. In Sasuke and Sakura's case, they _still_ did resemble the living dead. Though Sakura had slept a lot, she still felt as if someone had stuffed cotton in her head. Her eyes were puffy and red and she could have fallen asleep right there on the ground. Sasuke opened the door again, not looking much better and they entered their room.

Naruto's silhouette against the faint moonlight was still and it seemed that he finally became quiet. His teammates crawled in their own beds and put the ear buds in. Better safe than sorry was the motto of the past three days and they were not about to change that.

In the end it was a good decision on their part because around two in the morning, Naruto started to shift. Sweat pearled on his forehead as he tossed his suffocatingly thick blanket off. A low, anguished moan escaped him. His hands clenched into fist. He turned on his stomach. The little opening above the window blew fresh air over the sweat stains on his back. He groaned again and curled up into himself.

His left arm came up and punched straight through the foam of the mattress, out on the other side. Splinters of wood fell out of his hand as it healed at an accelerated pace. His face turned, one eye opening partly and revealing an iris in the color of desert sand. His pupil contracted and turned into a narrow slit. The room's temperature shot up. Sakura squirmed in her sleep and turned on her side, uncovering her back.

A shape appeared in the room. Tall and gaunt, it came close to the boy's bed. Moonlight reflected on a white mask and a strand of blond hair for a split second. The shape towered over Naruto's writhing shape. A hand came to rest on Naruto's forehead, firmly pinning the boy in place. There was a brief flash of purple and Naruto's body relaxed. The boy became completely limp and soon he breathed the same way his teammates did. The shape let him go and left the same way it came.

Neither one of the Genin noticed a thing.


	21. Weed out those who are evil

It was a busy morning on the last day of the Second Exams. The Genin who managed to get all the scrolls were rushed in and out by the medics, some examined on the spot to save time. The scrolls were opened, Iruka appeared and did his little talk.

On one occasion, two teams had entered together and activated the scrolls at the same time, trying to best each other. The result was a large cloud and Iruka nearly torn in half. Afterwards there was a guard in front of the entrance to ensure that only one team was inside. If two teams arrived at the same time, they would have to battle it out with an intense game of 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'.

When the large bell rang, the race was over. The teachers, anxiously waiting behind the large doors, were allowed to enter the tower's main space. Some cheered upon seeing their brats, some cried (Gai) or did not find their team at all. Those teachers mostly groaned, some cried (fear or disappointment, it was hard to tell) but they all excused themselves reasonably politely to go and find their idiots. A discreet gesture by the Hokage send a team of medics after those teachers.

Kakashi in particular was happy to see his team. In his own way, that is. He grabbed the trio by their necks without so much as a greeting and launched them on one of the empty balconies. There he ignored all their questions, exclamations and words in general. He stared them deep in their eyes until even Sasuke looked uncomfortable. He poked their arms, legs and stomachs. Finally he checked their necks. When he was satisfied he stood straight and smiled.

"Good job."

The trio gaped at him. At last Naruto (of course) burst.

"Sensei, what's with the inspection?! We just passed the exams and fought a super bad snake guy! Believe it!" Much to his credit, Naruto did keep his voice below his usual range.

Kakashi sighed and scratched his head. "So I've heard. You three should be glad you survived. Do you even know who that was?" 

They stared at the ground. Sakura rubbed her fingers. "Yes, we do." She said quietly.

She was pale, he noticed. The veins in her arms were swollen and a large bruise had formed on her forearm and wrist. _If this is how she looks after medical care, I don't want to know how she looked before._ He squinted at her and noticed the small trembles that ran through her hands, her inability to keep them still. He saw the short nails, raw skin on her palms and how she carefully avoided looking at them directly. His stomach clenched.

"It was Orochimaru." Sasuke's voice was so quiet, that even Kakashi had to pay attention to hear it.

"Yes. It was him." _And I will kill him for this._

Sasuke looked much better than Sakura, but then again he had not swallowed two soldier pills. There was a faint yellow bruise on his neck where Kakashi suspected the Curse Mark had been. He was subdued but that was to be expected. _I guess we'll see when the psych evaluation comes, though I doubt it would be any better than his previous one._

His eye wandered to Naruto, who was now leaning over the balustrade and shouting profanity at Kiba. He leaned forward just too much and nearly fell down after trying to adjust his feet. Kakashi's hand shot out and pulled him down by his shirt.

"Huh? Oh thanks, Kakashi sensei." Naruto smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

 _He noticed it too._ Kakashi could clearly sense the whirlpool that was Naruto's chakra. The boy's chakra at best was a wild ocean. Now it was forced into a river, clashing and foaming. There was no way to tame it and thus Naruto was completely incapable of controlling it.

 _This team is going to kill me._ Kakashi really wanted to go to the bar.

Ibiki would have agreed. From the moment he spotted his team, he had suffered a headache. Ryuya and Chi were fine, they said some words and proved that they were alright and then remained quiet. Ryuya was too weak to continue the fight, despite her bones being healed again. That was alright, she assured him and the two girls were all nods and agreements. Shinji however...

Ibiki knew it was going to be bad when she started by taking a deep breath. The rant that followed, took many minutes of non-stop speed talking and even made two nearby teams fall silent. She complained about everything from the weather to their near death experience and to meeting Team 7. As time passed, her cheeks flushed red and she grew even more agitated, causing her colorful vocabulary to rear its head. Ibiki swore that at least two teachers gasped for air and one even covered the ears of his students.

He suppressed the urge to cover his face (he was a torture specialist, damn it!) and instead firmly pushed his hands in his pockets and willed the foul mouthed girl to be quiet. Of course, she did not listen. She continued for another eight minutes before Chi hit the back of her head.

"If the forest didn't kill us, your talking will!"

Ibiki could kiss her but he didn't want to risk his limbs. "Right, thank you Chi."

Shinji took another indignant breath but Ryuya poked her side, causing her to double over and exhale. He patted her head. "Thank you too, shorty." 

He looked at his trio (privately christened as: Migraine, Nausea and Aspirin) and felt pride rise in his chest. "You've done a good job. Even if you're injured and even if the weather made your hair fizzy, you did great."

Much to his surprise, Chi had to muffle her laughter with her hand. Shinji openly gawked at her, never having seen Chi laugh properly. Ryuya, the only discreet one, smiled at her teacher. Ibiki took a second to relish in the youthful expression on Chi's face before he continued.

"You guys came a long way and I'm sure that whatever happens, you will only grow even more. I am proud to be your sensei."

The look on their faces was worth the cheesiness of his words. Ibiki smiled and turned, waving them along. They walked over to the center where other teams had started to gather. The tension left his shoulders when he made eye contact with the other Konoha Genin teams. At least they had made it. His eyes wandered over Team 7 and as they neared, he couldn't help himself from inspecting them.

They _looked_ fine. But Ibiki had seen plenty of victims, from all sorts of torture, and he saw the signs. It was in the glassy sheen over Sakura's eyes, the way she kept her hands close to her body. Hands that were scrubbed until they were tender. It was in the way Naruto took his steps, careful and unsure, as if he was walking on ice. He noticed how Sasuke tensed when seeing Chi and how he kept adjusting his collar to hide the bruise.

In his own team, he noticed the weariness that would later sink into their bones. All around him, he could see Genin with soft lines around their eyes, lines that would become hard and pronounced. He noticed the low shoulders, the drag of their feet and how they looked at each other. Many of them had just killed for the first time. The scent of antiseptic hung in the air. Ibiki let his team pass him and greet their classmates. The teachers automatically gathered but none said a word.

The Hokage strode to the mic positioned in the hand of Hayate. His face was relaxed but the lines around his eyes were tight. He took a breath as the chatter died down.

"Good-"

The mic jerked away as Hayate coughed and wheezed. He straightened after a minute and held the microphone up. The Third kept his expression straight and started over.

"Good afternoon to all Genin teams who have made it through our Forest of Death."

The few teams who had not caught up on that name yet, squirmed and one individual let out a very high squeak. The Hokage let the teams stew for a bit and glanced at Hayate.

"Normally we would-" 

Hayate neatly stopped himself from sneezing.

"now give you all a month to prepare for the last round of this Exams, but-"

Hayate cleared his throat and looked away. The Third squinted and carefully continued

"since you all have done much better than we had calculated, we are now having an extra round!"

The Hokage finished just in time for Hayate to start coughing his lungs out. The whole audience winced (aside from probably Gaara but no one dared to look at him to check) as the human microphone stand doubled over and nearly fell off the stage. Some of the foreign Jonin teachers send worried looks to their Konoha colleagues, only to find them inspecting the ceiling or conversing casually with each other.

"Another round?!" Sakura looked at her teammates in despair. "I can't go for another round!"

"Well I can!" Naruto exclaimed, his attempt at cheering her failing miserably when he jumped too high and fell down on his butt.

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine. Stop worrying."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him but remained quiet. Team 11 next to him was freaking out. Shinji had launched into another tirade while Ryuya stared at her leg, looking downright pitiful. Kakashi was pretty sure that Chi was mumbling some ancient curses and took a small step to the side.

On the stage, Hayate was still coughing but the Hokage was not done with his speech yet. So he snatched the microphone with his sleeve-covered hand, and send the proctor to the side.

"Can I have your attention for another few minutes?" He waited for the noise to quiet down. "We are aware that not all of you are in the right state to continue this Exam, so we will give you all now a chance to give up. This is a choice for each individual, as we will no longer look at team as a whole. So, whoever wants to retreat, lift your hand and we will escort you out of here to fill out the right forms and then you are free to return and watch.

Ibiki stole a glance at Ryuya and smiled relieved when she lifted her hand. Shinji grabbed her free hand and squeezed it. Chi only looked on, a pang of sadness hidden in the rusty color of her eyes. Besides them, Sakura clenched her teeth but did not raise her hand. Kakashi felt oddly conflicted.

None of the other Konoha Genin gave up, but plenty of the more battered Genin from other villages decided to throw the towel in the ring. One in particular caught the attention of the Konoha Genin. Silver haired, and silver tongued, Kabuto raised his hand, much to the astonishment of Naruto.

"Oi Kabuto, don't you want to pass this thing once?!" He yelled, embarrassingly loud. This time however, Kakashi could appreciate his knuckle-headed student. As it was, Chi had not given a very accurate description of Kabuto. Her precise words were: ' _looks old, glasses, weird pale hair and has cards._ '

With the aid of Naruto's inside voice, they now could pinpoint the boy down to the frozen kid with the (indeed) weird hair and glasses. Kabuto had a faint blush on his cheeks and his ears were red. He collected himself after realizing that everyone was staring at him.

"Well, my team is mostly incapacitated and I am actually a medical ninja so it's for the best if I quit now." He explained quickly.

Naruto squinted at him and for a moment Kakashi prayed that his two brain cells had fallen out of orbit , but then Naruto shrugged and said. "It's your funeral, man. Believe it."

Kakashi could kiss the boy.

"Is there anyone else?" The Hokage asked, interrupting the staring contest and wanting to lock the Kabuto kid up as soon as possible.

When no one reacted, he snapped his fingers and ANBU disguised as Chuunin shot down. One by one, the Genin who gave up were led through a back door. A lady materialized next to Ryuya and nodded at Ibiki. Ryuya left quickly and without a word. Her team watched her go with mixed feelings.

A blond guy, as big as a bear with the purple eyes of a cat, landed next to Kabuto and smiled friendly. The boy nodded and followed the guy to the back door. Ibiki's eyebrows reached his missing hairline.

"They are putting _him_ on the kid?" He whispered to Kakashi, a grin threatening to escape.

Kakashi chuckled lightly and shook his head. Asuma- who had made his way to the duo- bit down hard on his cigarette to stop laughing.

"Man, that boy is toast." He murmured, maneuvering his Genin behind Team 7. His team looked exhausted and grumpy but that was nothing new. Choji had gotten his hands on a family package of beef jerky and was munching away. Shikamaru and Ino each held two strips in their hands but looked too tired to chew.

"Will you guys stop being so obvious?" Kurenai startled them all when she materialized next to poor Choji who choked on his snack. Her team was better rested but their clothes were absolutely filthy. No amount of scrubbing and water had gotten rid of the thick layer of mud, grass stains and blood off. Ino wanted to hide.

As the four argued amongst each other, the Hokage looked at them from the stage, willing them to break up already and stop being so damned ob(l)vious. When it didn't seem likely for the trained Jonin to be aware of their position, he coughed into the microphone.

"Right, so now that everyone has decided, Hay- I will explain the rules of this extra round." The Third glanced at the proctor who managed a weak salute. His shinobi were close to useless at times.

"This extra round will consist of one-on-one battles. The battle ends when one of the two becomes incapable of fighting. This will be determined by our medical team and the proctor and the decision is final. The duos will be randomly generated by the computer and the names will appear on the screen." He gestured at a large flat screen that hung rather bluntly between two ancient giant statues.

"If everyone could please clear this area and move to the upper balconies, we can begin immediately."

 _Underneath the Forest of Death, same time~_

Kabuto was in trouble. He had been in trouble before, but this was serious trouble. He knew it from the moment he was led through a claustrophobic tunnel through a back exit and he failed to sense any of the other Genin. A little experimentation with his sensory field told him that there were some very strong chakras waiting for him at the end of the tunnel. Those levels did not belong to any Genin, unless Naruto and Chi had quit the exams as well. Kabuto didn't think that would be likely.

The man behind him (he had no imaginations that the man wasn't ANBU) was silent, like a ghost. His frame filled the whole tunnel like a wall closing in on Kabuto from behind. He gulped and sped up. If he had know what was going to happen at the end of the tunnel, he would have slowed down.

 _At the tower~_

Shikamaru's win was way too easy, they all agreed to that.

Asuma was just glad that the other sensei wasn't holding him responsible. Shikamaru scratched his head and plopped down on the bench, having the audacity to yawn. The unconscious girl was checked by a scrawny medic and then allowed to sleep it off on the bench with her team. Asuma glanced at her and bit his lip. Kurenai elbowed him.

"Don't look so smug, she is just a kid."

"So is Shika!" He winked, barely containing the laughter in his voice.

Kurenai was unimpressed and turned away to tend to Hinata, who had once again fainted. Kakashi had to give it to team 8, they were doing remarkably well in their situation. Akamaru's fur was matted with dirt when they came to the tower, but after some high pressure rinsing, the pup was snow white once again. Kakashi thought of his dog summons and shook his head. _They would tear me apart if I got them that dirty..._

 __He scratched his hand and peeked at the corner beneath the large statues. There was a pricking sensation against his skin. A feeling he had felt before. He focused on the exam.

The next duo was chosen. Naruto vs Kiba. The battle was hard, especially for the spectators. Sakura tapped him on his hands. Kakashi tore his eye away from the battlefield.

"Sensei, you're bending the bar." She said in a low voice, wincing when Naruto endured another beating from the dog/human duo.

"Ah." He pried his fingers away with much effort. Indeed, the bar now sported the shape of his hands. "Thank you, Sakura." He hoped that his smile didn't look as pained as he felt.

Naruto meanwhile got up again and roared. Kakashi half expected- _never hoped-_ the Nine Tailed Fox to jump out and finish the battle here and now, but instead the orange ninja created over a hundred clones and charged. Kakashi eyed the other contestants, who were now giving the boy the Evil and Shocked eye. _Maybe not the smartest move._

The battle lasted quite a while. Kiba was getting tired while Naruto wasn't even concerned. Chakra flew all around the tower, making the Hyuuga's wince. Even Sasuke seemed to be more invested than he would ever admit. The boy was standing on the lower bars of the railing and leaned forward. His Sharingan, with permission, was out and spinning wildly. They were up so high, the others would never see it anyway.

The battle eventually came to a pretty lame conclusion. To make a long story short: Naruto farted. Kakashi didn't know what else he had expected.

The names on the board started to change again. The two boys were brought up to their teams, Asuma handed some money to Kurenai and a grinning Genma, and both kids were received with cheers. All the Konoha Rookies were just happy one of the two had made it. Kakashi just wondered what the one exception was thinking. His eye met Ibiki's and together they looked at the brown haired girl, who was staring hard at the board.

Chi thought that she masked it pretty well. No one had given her a second glance, except for Ino but that was only for a second. Chi was sure that her muscles would tear if she tensed them any more. The scents in the room spun around her but they weren't enough to overpower _his_ smell. Her skin crawled and she refused to look in that one corner where the shadow was just a touch darker.

 _Can't they open a window or something?_

The minutes passed and Chi was making dents in the iron bar. Her braces groaned under the pressure of her chakra.

"Chi."

Her sensei's voice startled her out of her thoughts. The metal twisted between her fingers and the stone floor beneath her feet cracked.

Ibiki rose his hands, Kakashi behind him. "It's just us."

"Sensei..." Chi breathed and let the bar go. The leftover fell down.

"What's wrong?" Ibiki came next to her. Kakashi stood on her other side, effectively shielding her from the dark corner. Chi looked at him and then down again.

"Just nervous."

"Sure?" Ibiki exchanged a look with his colleague.

"Yeah." Chi clenched her jaw.

A cheer went up in the crowd.

"Chi!" Shinji ran to her friend. "Chi, you're up!"

The board displayed "Ketsueki Chi VS Nara Temari." Ibiki felt his stomach clench. Shinji gave her friend an anxious look.

"Chi! That's the chick from-"

"I know." Chi cut her off.

"Don't forget, try to-"

"Yeah, got it."

She nodded at the trio around her and turned. Temari was already on the first floor. Sensing Chi's eyes on her, she looked up and grinned. Chi narrowed her eyes. Ibiki noted with a start that they were getting very red.

"Chi? Are you hungry?" He quietly asked.

Chi's response send shivers down his spine no matter how much he claimed to have seen worse. Her upper lip curled and she licked her canines. "Oh, very much."

She leaned forward and let herself fall down through the gap, landing with the grace of a cat. Her haori hung from one shoulder and she shrugged it back on, tightening it with her belt. Hayate stood in the midst of them, looking rather apathetic in a situation that would have send plenty of shinobi in high alert. Wind started to pick up in the arena, despite not having any openings.

Hinata squirmed and covered her eyes. Kurenai send a worried glance at Ibiki, who could only incline his head. He had no idea what happened in the forest with the two but he was about to find out. He kicked Shinji's ankle gently.

"What happened in the forest?" He whispered in the deadly silence.

Shinji started but kept her voice down "We met them. Chi fought all three of them while I got Ryuya away."

"So she knows how Chi fights?" Ibiki felt dread settle in his stomach like a boulder.

Shinji faced him, her eyes were wide and unsure. "I don't know. I don't know how Chi fights for real."

 _Damn, she's right. No one has seen her fight seriously. And now she's hungry too._ Ibiki's headache returned in all it's glory. Ryuya's warm hand slipped into his and he forced himself to calm down as she leaned into him. Together with all the Jonin of Konoha, Ibiki mentally crossed his fingers as the battle began.

At first it seemed like none of them would move. Temari was still smiling at Chi, her giant fan planted next to her on the ground. Chi's face had gone completely devoid of emotion, but her eyes were like rubies. Eventually, she lowered herself in a crouch with her arms stretched in front of her and tilted her head. Wind picked up from around her.

"How's the leg?" Chi asked.

Temari's smile tightened. "Perfect."

Chi licked her lips "For now."

The fan was up and moving before anyone could react. A blast of air shot to Chi and left a sizable cut in the wall behind her. Chi herself was in the air and landed just a few meters near Temari, who immediately lashed out with a roundhouse kick. Chi dodged it but didn't attack. The two were silent again.

Up in the audience, Naruto clutched his stomach. Kakashi's inner alarms started to wail. Chi's breathing grew heavier and she leaned forward. A thin crack ran from underneath her feet to the stage. Temari frowned.

"What's wrong, can't handle the pressure?"

Chi gritted her teeth and stood straight, though with much effort. Her eyes flashed and Temari jolted, feeling her leg cramp.

"What's wrong? Can't handle it?" Chi forced out.

Temari could feel her veins expand as the blood gathered there. She opened her fan again and send another whirlwind at her foe. Chi let go of her focus and shot up against the wall. Temari wanted to shake her leg to get some feeling back, but instead caught the eye of Gaara. The redhead was looking right through her and their plan shot through her head again.

Cursing she turned to Chi, who was now much closer and coming at her with a right hook. She blocked it with her fan, before throwing it aside. The two engaged in quick hand to hand combat until Temari swiped Chi's legs from underneath her. Chi hit the ground and Temari immediately jumped on top of her. She pulled out a kunai and lifted it. Chi grinned, which was a horrifying sight to see with her red eyes and sharp teeth.

Ibiki wondered how much gore was allowed during a Chuunin exam. Temari brought her weapon down and slit Chi's throat. Ibiki counted to three. Temari jumped away with a cry. Her left knee gave as she landed. She looked down and found a deep cut in her thigh. Chi crawled up with the same grin on her face, though her face was now two shades paler. A small version of her special hollowed kunai was in her hand.

Ibiki remembered that kunai, how could he forget. Chi's clan used it to take blood from their opponents. It was virtually painless but only if the other was distracted properly. Ibiki figured that attempting to murder the opponent was enough of a distraction. Chi made good use of that.

Various Genin and Jonin let their disbelief and disgust be heard. Chi's neck was clearly separated from the front, exposing muscles and even cartilage. The skin curled like burned paper and turned black as they watched. A few drops of blood made it down but she swiped them of with her fingers. She straightened and Ibiki wished that she wouldn't tilt her head back like that because everyone could now see her neck's anatomy. Not even in black.. She lowered her chin again and brought the kunai up.

"To our battle. To our villages. To victory." She rasped.

Temari looked like she'd rather face her brother and spared a helpless glance at the tight-lipped Hokage. Chi tipped the kunai and even the toughest of Jonin had to turn away. The muscles moved as she swallowed the blood. The whole display lasted about three seconds before she lowered the kunai and tossed it aside. She wiped her lips and licked her fingers. You could've heard a pin drop in the tower.

"What- Y-you-" Temari stammered and clutched her fan.

"What?" Chi drawled. "I was hungry."

She took a step forward and made a sign. A dozen copies appeared all around Temari. The latter took them out with with a wave of her fan. Chi summoned a shuriken and made a cut on her hand. Dark blood pooled in her palm.

"What the hell are you?!" Temari leaned forward, every muscle tense and ready to attack.

Chi tilted her head and the yellow eyes were all Temari saw before Chi was onto her. Her leg seemed bolted to the floor, her veins burning. Fear crept all over her skin. Fear like she had never sensed before. The sweet metallic scent of blood filled her nose and laid upon her tongue. Unwillingly, Temari dropped her fan from her stiff fingers. Chi was now a few centimeters away from her. She grinned.

"I am the monster in your mind."

Chakra flared all around her, cold and sweet with a rotten aftertaste. _Like a rotting body,_ her mind supplied. Bile rose in her throat. Strong hands grabbed Temari from behind and held her down. Chi formed a few signs and pressed her bloody palm against her forehead. Icy fire spread across Temari's body and the world turned black. Only Chi's voice, raspy and low, echoed in the silence.

"Ketsueki Yamanaka style: Mind Prison Jutsu."

Two enormous yellow orbs opened in front of her, with a little black pinprick in each. Temari only heard her own voice, echoing from all directions as she screamed.


	22. Monster in my mind

Whenever Temari was afraid, it was usually because of her youngest brother. He terrified her with his glare and his abilities. He could not be harmed, the sand would always protect him. She could not remember the last time Gaara had smiled, if he ever had. As a kid he was isolated from them and when their uncle died, he was already too damaged. It broke her heart despite everything.

She once discussed it with Kankuro, but he had snapped at her and refused to bring it up. Temari thought that he was being a jerk and had scolded him but at night she heard him cry underneath his blanket. The curse and blessings of having siblings, she supposed. Though whenever she resumed her duties as a shinobi, she could only feel the curse. Like when they were briefed of their mission during the Chuunin Exams, or when they met the Uchiha. The pressure and Gaara's foul mood ever since he ran into the Konoha Genins drove her mad.

She herself didn't particularly like the Konoha teams. They were too happy, too undisciplined and all bright eyed. They didn't have to suffer the same gruesome training as she did. However, one of the Genin stood out to her in the worst possible way. She remembered her name, Chi, but she remembered her eyes more.

In the forest she faced the three of them alone as her teammates fled. Stupid, she had thought. Gaara would kill all of them anyway. That was before Chi bared her canines and her eyes started to glow red. Gaara's sand rose warily around him. Kankuro frowned at Temari but she was too busy with the squirrels.

She had been pretty damn sure that she had killed the two on the ground when she shredded a branch. Now the little rodents had gotten back to their feet and were stiff as Kankuro's puppets. Temari felt her mouth run dry as she saw the cuts on the furry bodies. They were held together by some miracle and no blood was flowing. Then she looked back at Chi and made her first mistake. Temari swung her fan out and send a gust of wind towards her foe.

Chi was gone quite literary with the wind. Around them the forest came to life. Spiders, bugs and rodents appeared from the bushes. A pigeon without a head stumbled besides a four-legged spider the size of a puppy. All of the creatures suffered horrible wounds that should have been fatal to them, but it didn't seem to stop them. It was no Genjutsu, that was confirmed when the first of the bugs shot at them. They were very much real and solid. Temari blew them all away and jumped to a higher branch, following her siblings. There she made her second mistake.

As she landed she didn't pay attention to the falling leaves around her. When she felt the chakra flare next to her, it was already too late. Chi appeared instead of a dried leaf and bit her calf. Temari's scream was stuck in her throat as an indescribable sensation spread up her leg. A split second later Kankuro shooed Chi away with a kunai. Temari stumbled and fell, her leg stretched in front of her. Bruises already formed around the wound, blood still flowing freely.

Chi landed on the ground beneath them and smiled. Blood was smeared over her teeth and her lips. Her eyes turned yellow as the Sand siblings watched.

"You lost." She grinned.

"What did you do?!" Kankuro reached for the bundle on his back. Temari shivered as cold sweat started to break out on her forehead. Her hands supporting her, slipped and her head hit the branch.

"I drank." Chi's voice came from a distance.

"What the hell?!" Kankuro appeared at her side, lifting her by her arm. Temari's head rolled to her chest.

"We're leaving." Gaara's voice came unexpectedly. Temari wanted to thank him, but her mouth was too dry. Kankuro muttered some curses but lifted her up in his arms. The last thing Temari saw before they were up in the trees, was Gaara staring down from his position. His lips were curled up as the sand rose around him. Then he turned and she averted her eyes.

Back then she wasn't that scared. At least not compared to her battle with the Ketsueki. Temari gulped, standing straight only because of her determination. Sweat ran in rivulets down her cold skin. The two eyes in front of her stared right through her. Around her was nothing. It was a void that moved when she was looking the other way. The air was thin and cold, but tasted sweet and metallic, with a sour undertone. Morbid thoughts entered her mind but she forced them away. Chi was nowhere to be found. Temari clenched her fists and asked again.

"Where am I?"

The eyes, giant, yellow and without eyelids, didn't blink.

"Who are you? Let me out!" Temari didn't care for her cracking voice. She just wanted to get the hell out of here, competition be damned. The black void gaped at her. Her skin tingled.

"Where am-"

"In your head." A voice suddenly spoke.

Temari spun around, heart beating fast in her chest. She ran to the eyes but they never came closer.

"What are you doing? How can you look in your own head for someone else?" Chi's voice came again.

"What the hell is this?! Get me out of here!" Temari shouted, spinning around again.

"It's your head. I can't control it." Chi commented lightly.

"Bullshit. This isn't my head!" _Is it?_

"Oh? It isn't?" Chi's voice still carried that breezy tone. "Then it must by mine."

Something flickered in the darkness in front of her feet. A drop fell from high above, hitting the ground behind her. Temari jumped forward, turning around and keeping her eyes trained on the spot. A gray circular shape appeared, forming a thick circle. The circle then rose up to form a cylinder. It came to a sudden halt near the height of her chest. A deep gurgling sound filled the quiet of the void. Curiosity got the better of her and Temari came closer to peek over the edge. The cylinder was filling to the brim with a dark liquid, sloshing lazily against the walls.

"You can touch it if you want, drink it, even." Chi's voice was gentle and kind. It send shivers down Temari's spine.

Despite that, she still reached out with her hand. Temari held her breath as she dipped a finger in the liquid, and then slowly relaxed. It was pleasantly warm and thicker than water. She drew eights with her hand and wondered if she could jump in it for a quick bath. It would be like swimming in cream. A soft chuckle came from around her and Temari rolled her eyes. The warmth had chased the horrible iciness away and left her much calmer than before.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I ask-" Chi began and Temari's inner alarm started to blare at her sweet tone "that you tell me what is inside the well." 

Temari's hand stilled and her head snapped to the construction, which now that she had heard was definitely a well. Suddenly the warm liquid seemed to hide a deep secret, like a monster that would pull her in and drown her. She imagined gulping down the sticky stuff in a battle to get to the surface and a sick idea planted itself in her mind. Slowly, she lifted her hand and watched as the liquid dripped of her fingers. Her hand shook as she brought it closer to her lips. Swallowing once, she opened her mouth and licked her index finger.

Iron. Sweet. _Blood._

Jumping back, Temari spit on the ground, gagging and heaving. In the background Chi started to laugh. With tears in her eyes, Temari mentally promised retribution. The blood wouldn't come off her hand by shaking so she swallowed the bile back and rubbed her hand on her pants. Dark stains appeared against her light clothes. She was sure that the stains were spreading too, soaking through the cotton and clinging wetly to her skin. She shuddered.

"What's wrong?" Chi gained her composure again though her mirth echoed in her voice. "It's yours. At least some of it. Most of the blood comes from my clan."

"What- How-?" Temari began weakly, not knowing where to start.

"I drank your blood, remember?" Chi replied.

Temari slowly turned her leg to get a look at the bite wound. It was dark and the veins were pulsing, sending something black through her body. Strangely there was no pain. Only an immense feeling of being chained to the ground. She reached out and touched her leg, only to find it as cold as ice. The warmth of the blood leaked away from her and she almost missed it.

Temari snapped up, turning to the eyes. "What the hell is this?"

"Stop asking stupid questions." Chi sounded annoyed now. Temari could almost picture the scowl and the yellow eyes.

"Tell me, what are you doing here?" Chi hissed, voice edging towards a whisper. The darkness grew darker and the eyes became bigger. Like ink in water, orange started to spread at the edges.

Temari couldn't look away anymore. A shiver ran down her spine and her knees gave in but she didn't fall. Her lower body was encased in ice, senses numbed and feeling detached from the rest. Memories flashed in front of her eyes. Distantly she noticed a hand traveling up her thigh to her waist and over her stomach. The hand reached her neck and clamped around it, leaving a trail of ice. Temari choked as it clenched. The hand pressed her down as the well started to groan behind her.

Temari wanted to turn, but instead found herself enveloped in ice. It crept up passed her spine, to her shoulders. Frost bit down on her arms and rose up her neck. Temari felt the ice touch her chin and curl around her lips, freezing her tongue and going in her throat. When the cold reached her forehead, she started to panic. Her arms didn't move and her legs were completely useless.

Chi's voice came again, sweet and cruel. "If you don't tell me, I will be forced to hurt you."

Temari wanted to say something but her voice never came out. The hand around her throat cut off air and sound. She wanted to claw at it, to free herself. Hell, she wanted to confess, but it seemed like Chi had already set her mind on tormenting her.

There was a beat of silence, in which neither made a sound. Then hot liquid poured over her. It hit her head first and gushed passed her shoulders, forcing Temari to close her eyes. It ran over her frozen body and sizzled when it hit the ice.She remained with her eyes closed and lips clamped shut as the contents of the well soaked her to the marrow.

The sound was deafening and only after it had become quiet for some seconds, Temari looked up again. Her body tingled and her skin was burning. Every bit of skin hurt. Temari gasped and found that she could breathe again. Nevertheless, her lungs protested and she only managed short, squeaking breaths. With each she inhaled some of the blood and bile rose again.

"Did you warm up again?" Chi asked.

Temari hated how she flinched at the sound. In her head she compared the girl to Gaara and knew damn well that Gaara would never use torture, but simply killed his opponents. Gruesomely, yes and with a lot of unnecessary pain, but he never tortured. Chi was nothing like a regular Genin. Temari wanted to throw up, and curl in her bed. She wanted a bath but she wasn't sure if she needed a cold or a hot one. Tears spilled passed her cheeks.

"Will you tell me what you are doing here?" Chi's voice would return in her nightmares, she was sure of it.

Nodding, Temari realized that she was already talking. Guilt clamped at her stomach but she ignored it. With a bit of luck, this would all be a dream. All she saw were the yellow eyes. The light coming from them enveloped her, hushed her thoughts. Her shivering stopped.

When she was finished with her story, she was panting.

"Thank you, Temari." Chi said. Simple and sincere.

"Y-you're welcome." Temari replied because that was normal and therefore it was alright. Still, she had one gnawing thought. "M-my brothers-"

Chi's voice echoed over her head. "Don't worry Temari, I figured it out. This is your head, so your secret is safe."

"Okay..."

Then it was light and warm again. Temari blinked and felt no pain, only a hand on her head. She froze again, but the hand fell away. Chi, weary and grim, looked her dead in the eyes and spoke.

"You lose."

That was when Temari realized that she was in the arena and not covered in blood. She saw the Hokage sitting in his chair, eyes focused on the two of them. She noticed the deadly silence around them, but felt the gazes of everyone. By the time her eyes got back to Chi, she no longer breathed. Chi's eyes were no longer yellow, but the gash of her slit throat was still black.

"Wh-"

Chi tilted her head, expression carefully crafted. "You lose."

And with that pain exploded in her head, her vision turning white. Her mouth opened and a blood-curling scream escaped her.

Chi looked back at the audience, ignoring the writhing girl in front of her. The Genin were clutching their ears, pale as sheets and horrified. Her eyes wandered to her team. Ryuya and Shinji were similar to the rest. Ibiki was stone faced, his eyes wide and boring into her.

Then Hayate signaled for medics to come and tend to the still hysterical girl before she crushed her own skull with her tight grip. Said medics carefully avoided Chi and went about with their needles and potions. Temari's screaming thankfully stopped and she slumped against one nurse, drool coming out of her mouth and her eyes rolling back. Chi stepped back and looked at the Hokage. Her blank expression crumbled. Her shoulders slumped and tremors ran through her hands as she pulled her haori close.

"Winner: Chi!" Hayate called out in the awkward silence that followed.

No one clapped. Chi staggered to the stairs and climbed them with much more effort than usual. No one seemed to breath until she reached her team. The board flickered on again and the attention was drawn to the next battle.

Chi barely managed to reach the bench and fell down on it. The presence of her teacher in front of her, made her open her eyes again. Ibiki's face was unreadable.

"What was that?"

Chi shrugged halfheartedly "Jutsu."

"What did it do?" Shinji piped up, unsure of what to do.

Chi swallowed but her mouth was dry. "I went in her mind. Got the thing."

Her eyes were a deep ruby color. Ryuya grabbed Shinji's hand and led her away, smiling gently at Chi. Ibiki remained there and didn't seem like he would move.

"What are you doing?" Shinji whispered at her blue haired friend.

Ryuya's smile faded as fast as it came. "Can't you see she's not willing to talk? She's super tired, just let her."

"But I want to know what she did!"

"So do I! But I don't want to get killed asking it!" Ryuya burst. Thankfully she still kept her voice down.

Shinji bit back her own feelings "How can you say that?! She's our friend!"

Guilt flashed over Ryuya's expression but it was soon replaced with fear "You know her. Or actually you don't. No one knows her. Her clan was filled with murderers and you saw the way she fights. You saw this fight!"

Shinji's throat felt like sandpaper. At that moment a cheer rose from the arena and Ryuya was distracted. Shinji stole another look at her other teammate and found her fast asleep against the wall. She marched over to the balustrade, staying far from the destroyed part, and tried to focus on the battle in front of her. She could do this.

Kakashi looked at them from distance, too busy with his own team to read their lips. He was sure that Sasuke's blood lust had upped another notch after seeing this... unusually disturbing battle. The boy might try to gain power through massacring Konoha.

Snorting a tad hysterically, Kakashi turned to Sakura. She tugged on his sleeve with wide eyes and asked for help. He twirled her around and gently pushed her out of the door that lead to the maze inside the walls of the tower.

"Tell me." He said.

Sakura didn't seem to hear him. He couldn't blame her, she was breathing rather loudly and in a nails-on-chalkboard pitch.

"Sakura." He urged.

She snapped to attention. "Sensei."

 _For the love of anyone, I need some assistance._ "Tell me what's wrong."

Sakura took a shivering breath. "I- In the forest, when Naruto a-and Sasuke were sleeping, we were attacked."

Her voice was small and lowered into a whisper at the end "I killed them."

 _Oh crap, this was part of the course..._ The course was given by experienced teachers and the academy teachers. It taught the Jonin instructors how to deal with situations and their students. It was the course that Kakashi had skipped all together because there was no way he would approve of a team. _Damn me._

"Sakura, what is really the problem?" He probed, praying that he didn't say the wrong thing. "If you hadn't killed them, they would have killed you and the boys." _And then I would have killed them so the outcome would be the same._

The girl in front of him wiped her nose on her sleeve. "I don't know. I won the battle and I got the scrolls. Because of me, we passed that round! But- but was it right?"

Kakashi's eye softened. "You mean, was it worth it? Was killing them worth winning the round?"

Sakura nodded. He put his hands on her trembling shoulders and leaned forward. "Unfortunately in our profession it is. We achieve our goal, regardless of the consequences."

She looked away but Kakashi wasn't done yet. "The fact that you feel guilt is important, Sakura. It means that you are human, and know compassion. I know plenty of Jonin who have lost that. They are now empty shells, machines who kill on command. You are stronger, you can show mercy and you will not take an innocent life just because someone asked you to. Guilt is a good thing."

Sakura looked at him and flung her arms around him. "Thank you sensei."

She squeezed tightly and let go before he could even remember to hug her back. He watched as she went back to her team just in time to see her own name on the board, paired against Ino. She squared her shoulders and ran down the stairs. Kakashi walked back in his own pace, trying to look as calm as possible as he turned his head slightly.

There, that shadowy corner near the statue. The temptation to shoot a kunai became greater. He looked back on the battlefield where the girls were attacking each other. Sakura didn't hold back but even then she avoided the most dangerous spots. Kakashi smiled, feeling victorious.

 _Yeah, guilt is a good thing._


	23. Teacher's burden

Perhaps Hiruzen should have become a gardener. He certainly had the fondness for plants. The Hokage stared at the potted flora wistfully but soon had to admit defeat. In front of him were two reports; one in a sharp, narrow handwriting, heavily coded and full of sealed pages. The other was clumsily coded and looked like a bunch of scratches in ink from a distance. The former was from Owl, the latter from Chi.

He scratched his head with his pipe and sighed. It took him half an hour to get through Owl's report. Each ANBU preferred a different type of concealing but they all liked to make each code more complicated to outdo the rest. No less than four times the Hokage had to backtrack because he misinterpreted a word or number. No less than eight times he had to stop himself from turning the paper into compost.

He set the thick file aside and tried not to think about the brown stains around the edges. He found a scrap of paper on his desk and scribbled a quick message on it. Then the Hokage turned his attention to the two flimsy pages of information Chi had provided. Her handwriting was as bad as Naruto's, if not worse. Ink was smudged and discolored, revealing that she too, diluted her ink with whatever other condiment in order to save money. Most people would do it with milk, which would still be eligible if heated with an iron.

 _But that clan was nothing if not original._

Ketsueki once used the finest ink, the softest brushes and the most expensive paper. Then, the clan fell into grip of darkness and poverty struck. They reused paper until it had holes in it, sometimes sending cloth instead. When fabric became special, the clan turned their brutality up another notch and send pieces of skin. The message would be carved in. With Chi being the sole heir of the little riches they had, combined with the funding she received, she could actually afford ink and supplies now. Yet, she still mixed her ink. Hiruzen guessed she used oil.

He took another look at the paper. It was as thin as regular paper, but yellowed as if it was decades old. The edges were rough and stiff, shrunken until the corners curled. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose and brought the paper closer. Ink ran in every direction, twirling and bubbling in places it had no business twirling and bubbling. He held it against the light.

 _Nope._

He patted his desk for his pipe and fresh tobacco. They never strayed far from his hands and only when he clasped the pipe between his lips, did he realize that he had been clenching his teeth in frustration. He lifted the paper again. Tilting it backwards seemed to work like magic and the Hokage could finally read the file. The information it contained was grave indeed, and he could sense Chi's worry from the deep grooves made by her pen and the hastily crossed out words, in favor of formalities.

The clocked ticked by as he reread the file and then set it aside. He cleared his throat and called for one of his assistants. Genma stuck his head in, chewing on that same toothpick.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Come in." Hiruzen nodded at the man.

Genma stepped inside, closing the door behind him. His shoulders were tense and his toothpick stilled.

"Triple the guards everywhere. Alert ANBU and give this note to their captain." He held out the scrap of paper.

Genma took it and asked "What about the visitors, won't they get suspicious?"

The Hokage smiled at him, letting a ring of smoke rise up between them. "Why, they won't even notice."

 _At the bar, that night~_

The kids were asleep. Most of them in their own beds, some in a hospital bed and, yes, a few were curled up at their teacher's homes, but they slept. Most of them. Ibiki knew that his kids were divided. Ryuya was at home, snoring sweetly after gorging herself on pies and sweet buns. Shinji's parents made her meditate for an hour and she fell asleep five minutes in (he knew because he watched). The second the battles were declared over and everyone was outside, Chi saluted and hightailed herself to her clan's district. Many muted looks of horror from other Genin followed her as she entered the Forest of Death again. Ibiki made sure a discreet escort followed her.

Kakashi had dropped Sakura off at her parent's home, giving a lame excuse about her haircut before fleeing. Sasuke insisted on walking alone but didn't really complain when Kakashi walked behind him reading his book anyway. Finally Kakashi watched in fascinated horror as Naruto inhaled six cups of instant ramen and then flopped down on his bed to start snoring immediately.

Both teachers shared a look over their full tumblers. Kakashi eyed the six bottles next to Ibiki and wondered if there were any clinics strong enough to hold the Torture specialist. The rest of the Jonin were elated, completely spent and exhausted after waiting for five days in tense silence, only interrupted by an owl with bad news. The fact that their kids had to battle it out right afterwards did nothing good to their state.

Asuma, always the poet when drunk enough, stood up and declared that he felt as if he had run a marathon and crossed the finish line, only to be told that there had been an unfortunate administrative accident and the finish had to be moved ahead for another kilometer. Kakashi compared it to his battle with Gai, just when he thought the man would stop, he'd do something else that would make Kakashi get up too.

The Konoha Jonin and Chuunin had collectively decided to gather for a bout of training. For their liver that is. The bartender served and served and sometimes added water to the vodka, all the while collecting their precious salary. The Jonin sighed and rubbed their necks, peering through the rosy haze and half lidded eyes. At some point Anko had spilled her glass of spiced whiskey and it had absorbed into the wooden floor. The scent of cinnamon now accompanied the strong scent of alcohol and smoke.

"You got plans made for the kids?" Kurenai asked Kakashi when the noise level had lowered. Kakashi nodded absently, wondering if he had too much to drink after all. If he opened his eye wide enough, he could see two Kurenais and that was _scary_.

"I am planning to get Ebisu to train Naruto. After all he specializes in private trainin-"

That was as far as he got. Iruka (who had been up since dawn yesterday and was stressing over the creation of a new exam, _and_ perhaps had a bit too much sake) had heard enough. The kind teacher had launched himself over the bar, tanned arm stretched to reach Kakashi's face, only to hit the wooden chair.

Kakashi's glass shattered on the floor but he was too busy trying to defend himself from Iruka. The kind Chuunin was besides himself with rage and Kakashi was absolutely sure that there was more to this situation. It was just that he couldn't think about it properly during a beating where he could barely stand up straight because of the table blocking his knees. Thankfully, Asuma and Kurenai stepped in when the brass knuckles appeared and pulled the Chuunin away, panting and still red in the face.

"Hatake, you unbelievable ass!"

Kakashi shrunk, painfully aware of the staring eyes around them. Iruka continued swearing, in a voice growing shriller as he went on until he reached a point of hysteria that caused fellow teacher Yamanaka Kai to put his mind to sleep. The smart blond smiled apologetically,

"Iruka had some sort of bad meeting today and he's under a lot of pressure these days... I don't know why he is defending the brat though." He looked rather pained towards the end, as if talking about Naruto hurt him physically. Asuma glared at him .

Kurenai did so too but spoke up "Iruka is still completely right if a bit overly emotional. Naruto needs to be trained by his teacher. Even if it isn't the most ideal situation, the kid can't handle so much disappointment."

Kakashi sighed "Yes, I am aware of that. However I need to train Sasuke, I'm the only one who can help him with his... gift. Besides, I'm sure that Ebisu would be a fine teacher to the kid-"

There was a familiar presence in the room he suddenly sensed now that his mind was clear again. Anko choked on her drink and an Inazuka next to her looked away awkwardly. The slender husky next to him looked at a point near the back door of the bar.

Kakashi slowly turned his head and felt his heart skid to a break when he spotted a mop of blond hair, much too bright to be an Inazuka. The bar froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Kakashi could feel the heat rise to his cheeks and ears.

Naruto managed to mask his expression and stepped tentatively in the room, scratching his head.

"Maa, sensei! I don't mind. I'll be fine!" He smiled that smile of his, but it wasn't blinding as it was supposed to be. "Sasuke really needs a good teacher to get his head back to its original size."

He swallowed, shifted his feet and Kakashi felt his heart break. "Naruto-" 

The kid waved "It's okay, sensei! Really. Just make sure not to teach him any cool moves or he might surpass me."

With that, Naruto stepped back and closed the door. The sound of the lock send a jolt of electricity through Kakashi's body. He jumped to the door, yanking it open only to find that Naruto had already bolted. With his heart thundering, the Jonin set out to follow him with only his nose to guide him.

As he left, he could hear Kurenai call out to him.

"Don't you forget Sakura!"

Cursing himself, Kakashi chased his student for most of an hour before he spotted him on top of the Fourth's head. He almost imagined his teacher's head turning around to look at him. Kakashi shook his head and tentatively stepped closer. Naruto's shoulders were trembling. The kid sniffed and tried to smother his sobs but Kakashi heard them regardless.

"It's me." He stepped on the rock that looked out on the entirety of Konoha. The legacy of the Fourth froze in shock.

Kakashi was next to him before he could wipe his face. "Naruto, I need to talk to you about what you heard in the bar."

"I told you it is alright." His voice sounded thick and he was still not facing him.

"It is not alright."

Naruto tensed "Are you mad?"

"What? No," Kakashi sighed, "I am not mad at you. In fact, I am rather impressed with your stealth."

This earned him a slight chuckle but the boy still hadn't turned around.

"I want to apologize to you. I-I am not a good teacher." It felt shameful to say it out loud, to his student no less. Kakashi found himself looking at the tiny lights in the streets far below them.

"That's wrong." Naruto spoke with a strength he was lacking earlier. He turned and Kakashi received a full load of those cerulean eyes straight into his misty one. "You are a good teacher, 'Kashi sensei. The best! It's just that I am not a good..." he trailed off.

"Naruto, you are far from a bad student. You have potential, passion and talent. Believe me, I am the one not doing my job right."

The Jonin took a deep breath "I promise that I'll change, for the better. I will train you three, Naruto."

"You won't have enough time, sensei."

"I'll figure it out."

"Hm."

It was time to change the subject.

"Why were you in the bar?" Kakashi leaned back on his hands.

"No reason."

"Sure?"

A lengthy pause followed, Kakashi waited patiently. Eventually Naruto cracked, "Sometimes the barman has leftover food."

"Shinobi can't grow on leftovers."

"I can. I got the F- enough chakra." Naruto's cheeks colored at his slip up. Kakashi pretended not to notice. They spend another hour sitting on the hair of their teacher and father respectively. Kakashi figured that he should do that more often, with more students.

Back in the bar, Iruka woke up with a hangover of worldly proportions. He was wedged between the designated babysitters: Kurenai and Anko, though no one really relied on Anko as she was the one to set fire to the cat of the Daimyo's wife, thus rendering the animal hairless. Gai, for whatever reason, was doing push ups in the corner.

"You feeling better?" Anko grinned at him, "Less punchy and screamy? Or are you feeling stabby now?"

Iruka blinked at her until the earlier events dawned on him. He paled and then flushed in such a fast rate, Kurenai feared he might pass out again. Instead he dropped his head on the table and groaned.

"What have I done?"

"Well, first you launched yourself and then almost punched Kakashi in the eye, which was amazing-" The ever so helpful Anko was shut up by Ibiki, who whacked her over her head with his hand. He pushed her aside and sat in front of Iruka, tapping his finger against his glass.

"Care to explain?"

Iruka looked up and groaned again when he saw his friend. "Please don't do this to me."

Ibiki shrugged "Well, someone's gotta. You didn't exactly act like yourself just now."

Iruka sighed and pushed himself up, resting his head between his hands. "I had a really bad day. Two days actually. Probably should have drank less anyway."

"Details please." Ibiki turned his glass in his hands.

"I had a meeting with the Hokage, about... You know, Chi." Iruka admitted quietly.

"That's not good." Ibiki commented. His glass stilled in his hands, though his eyes were trained on the liquid. Asuma stepped closer.

"Danzo is making his move." Iruka's voice was just above a whisper.

The warmth of the room was gone, temperature dropping to a freezing point. The sweetness of cinnamon turned sharp and burned their noses. Ibiki swallowed and took a breath to talk, but the opening of the door stopped him. Genma barreled in.

"Ibiki!"

He ran to the man. The cluster in the corner broke up and turned to the newcomer. Genma's face was pale and his hands had smears of blood on them. Before anyone could get a word out, he continued.

"Hayate was attacked, Chi found him. All Jonin teachers are expected to be at the Hokage Tower immediately."

 _Chi was outside?_ Ibiki narrowed his eyes. Then he downed his drink and grabbed his coat. The Jonin all followed and together they left the bar. Iruka looked after them and called

"I'll let Kakashi know."

The Jonin barely heard him as they jumped on the rooftops and sped towards the large, ivory tower that formed the office of the Hokage. They arrived at the same time as Kakashi, who explained that Iruka was taking care of Naruto now. Ibiki didn't pay attention, instead he eyed the ANBU that stood on guard and entered the tower.

The stairwell was desolated, moonlight was the only thing that gave them a view of what was ahead. Usually these stairs were bustling with people, rushing up and down. It was a place for gossip, for impromptu meetings and more gossip. Now the pearly steps were empty and cold. The light of the office shone from the top, the only unchanged factor.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk, blowing rings of smoke in the air. Beside him, standing stiff near a large potted plant, was Chi. Ibiki inspected her from a distance. She hadn't even changed her clothes, still wearing the same yellow haori she wore in the first exam. It was wrinkled and dusty, with brown stains on the sleeves. Her hair was still unwashed and in a hurried braid. Her braces were filthy.

"Apologies for bothering you so late at night." The Third started, putting his pipe aside. "I'm afraid this is urgent."

Kurenai shook her head, dark curls bouncing "It's no problem at all, Hokage-sama. Is Hayate alright?"

The Hokage nodded slowly, gesturing towards Chi, "Yes, Hayate is currently under observation but he will survive, thanks to Chi here."

All eyes were on the Genin now. Chi looked like she'd rather face an angry snake instead of her teacher. A light tremor ran through her hands and she hid them in her sleeves.

"Chi?" The Hokage asked, turning slowly. "Why don't you tell them what happened?"

Chi seemed to work on her expression for a moment before she looked up. Her voice was as quiet as she could get, her tone as steely as her gaze.

"I was on my way to my house when I smelled something." She looked uncomfortable but continued."I smelled human blood, so I went to check it out. I found him there, bleeding pretty badly from his nose and mouth. I stopped the bleeding and send a clone to get help."

"Do you have anything else to add?" The Third asked kindly. Chi hesitated but then firmly shook her head.

"In that case, you can wait outside for now, thank you."

Chi nodded and slipped out of the room, not facing anyone else. Once the door closed, the Third sighed.

"Hayate is still unconscious but we found some traces on him. The trail led us to the camp of the Sand delegation."

"So the reports are true." Ibiki clenched his fist.

"Indeed." Hiruzen confirmed. "Sound, Sand and Orochimaru. Those are our enemies now." 

"Did the Kabuto kid say anything else?" Gai asked quietly. The fact that he was openly paying attention unnerved Asuma immensely.

Ibiki shook his head "He's good, I'll give him that. We worked him hard and squeezed out as much as we could but eventually he shut down. We're letting him stew for now."

"Good. Make sure that Orochimaru can't get to him." The Third nodded.

"Do you think he knows-"

"That we're holding his accomplice?" Hiruzen finished Asuma's sentence. "I'm sure of it. We need to move fast."

A tense silence fell between them before Kurenai spoke up "Apologies Hokage, but why did you call all of us here?"

The Third put his pipe down and sighed "It was to warn you all to keep a close eye on your students. Orochimaru was my student once and look where he is now. My two other students are far away, waisting their talents and skills. Konoha needs _you_ to keep your students close."

He walked over to his window and looked outside, hands behind his back. "War is coming. It may not be here tomorrow, but it will arrive. We need to be ready and most of all, we need to stay together. Loyalty is our greatest weapon, make sure that the Genin know that."

The Jonin remained quiet even as they were dismissed by their leader. They filed out of the door one by one. Kakashi spared a glance at Chi, leaning against the wall, and quickly moved on. Ibiki stood next to her and walked down along side his student. The rest of the teachers had already left by the time they stepped outside and Ibiki took his chance.

"How did you save him?" he asked, just as Chi tried to get away. She froze and turned halfway on her heel.

"Just like usual." She shrugged.

Ibiki frowned "Did you take his blood? Did he ask you to?"

"I had to save him!" she snapped and then shrunk in upon herself.

"Chi, you can't just take someone's blood without their consent." he told her sternly.

"He wanted to survive." Chi clenched her jaw, looking away.

" _Explicit_ consent, Chi. What if he could've survived if you'd just applied regular care? How is he going to feel now that you hold his blood?" 

"Well, I don't know any _regular_ medical care. I just saved him the best way I could, he should be glad." Chi ground out.

"Can you take his blood out of your system?" 

His student positively growled before snapping at him "I _can't_ and I won't try it. He's alive and he should be happy. Now I want to get home and sleep!"

"Watch your language." Ibiki barked, towering over her. Chi scowled but forced her features into something less hostile.

"What were you doing outside? " he continued. "I thought you went to your home right after the exams."

She blanched but faced him anyway. Her eyes were scarlet, shimmering in the streetlights. "Went out for food."

"You don't need food."

"I _wanted_ it."

Ibiki wanted to shake the answer out of her, instead he just massaged his forehead wearily. "Don't tell me then. Go home. I expect you to be ready tomorrow at noon in the office. I hope for your sake that you'll be better then."

Chi nodded stiffly and flickered away. Ibiki clenched his fist and briskly turned away, walking towards his own apartment at a fast pace. The shadows seemed to watch him.


End file.
